The Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo says that despite numerous claims, he did not ask President David Granger to remove Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo as government’s point man to lead bilateral talks with the Opposition.
Jagdeo at a press conference hosted at this Church Street Georgetown Office earlier today said that while his party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), was hesitant to engage Nagamootoo as government’s representative, no request was forwarded to the President in this regard.
The former Head of State said that the PPP was concerned about the international community’s perception that talks never materialised because the PPP did not want to meet at the table with Nagamootoo.
Jagdeo said that the PM was using this as an excuse whenever the international community queried about government/opposition dialogue.
The politician added that during the meeting, the Head of State from the get-go volunteered to lead the talks personally without insisting that Nagamootoo retain his position as government’s representative.
“The President could have easily said,‘I’ll vest him with the portfolio’, or ‘I’ll vest him with the powers and you can rest assure that whatever he says there, we will agree to’ and the President chose not to,” Jagdeo said.
Quizzed on whether any mechanism was set in place for a follow-up engagement, Jagdeo responded in the negative.
“I have undertaken to have discussions with the party and after that, we will decide when we will re-engage the President,”
He concluded by saying, “We are committed to these talks. We want to give it a clear shot.”
