…says President misled the nation after political engagement
Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo is calling on the coalition APNU/AFC Government to immediately resign as is catered for in the constitution following the passage of a no confidence motion.
Speaking at his weekly press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo said that Government misled the country after the meeting between both parties where they said that the Opposition was in agreement that Guyana should not be left without leadership and must continue with the existing state of affairs.
According to Jadgeo, the Opposition has always maintained that they must resign and Parliament must be dissolved.
Further, the Opposition Leader revealed that at no time did the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) reach an agreement with the incumbent administration regarding the functions of the Legislative and Executive branches.
“We did not reach an agreement…the President misled the country about this because what he said was false…we did not drop the call for them to resign, Imran Khan in an interview, said that Opposition said that Government needed to be in place, I was talking about the caretaker Government, but they created an impression that I give them the okay to remain in office” Jadgeo said.
“Government even after the issuance of the statement continued to mislead the general public about the circumstances of the meeting and what agreements were struck there. Minutes after the meeting, the President indicated that public services have to be delivered, public order must be maintained and therefore the two sides reached agreement on how the legislative and executive branches should function…this is not so,” he said further.
According to the Party’s General Secretary, the current administration should have already resigned and a caretaker Government should have been in place.
However, when this topic was broached to President David Granger, he reportedly said that the constitution does not provide for one (Caretaker Government).
Jagdeo lambasted what he said was the attitude of the coalition Administration to operate outside of the parameters of the constitution, which he noted is illegal.
The leader of the Opposition maintained that the no confidence motion was legally passed and continues to push for article 106 (6).
Further, he reiterated that the time frames prescribed by the constitution must be rigidly observed and that Parliament must be dissolved unless agreed upon as article 106 (7).
“The President then said that the Government is legal and that it must govern without interference… To him, nothing happened even though the speaker said that it was carried and that the Court did not give an order that would stop the ticking timeline…He does not recognize that 106 (6) AND (7) have already kicked in” Jagdeo condemned.
Addressing the issue of elections being held based on the readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the opposition leader said that this cannot change the constitutional deadline.
