The Acting Editor in Chief  and the News Editor of the Guyana Chronicle were summoned to the Office of the President on Friday afternoon over a report carried on the front page of the state owned newspaper which declared that former President Bharrat Jagdeo is the best candidate to lead the PPP into the next elections.

Acting Editor in Chief Linda Rutherford did not attend the meeting but the News Editor and Acting Sunday Editor Chamanlall Naipaul attended the Office of the President meeting.

News Source understands that President Donald Ramotar is furious over the story and believes it may have been deliberately placed in the state newspaper to undermine his Presidency and his management of the country’s affairs.

There are reports that the Office of the President wants full details about who wrote the story and how it was able to make it into the state newspaper without proper verification. There are multiple reports that the story which first appeared in the Guyana Times was sent to both the Guyana Times and the Guyana Chronicle by a senior communications officer at the Office of the President.

The Guyana Chronicle also received the report from a senior official at the Guyana Times who asked that it be published in the Friday edition, according to several reports.

News Source understands that the Editor in Chief of the Guyana Chronicle Mark Ramotar who is on leave made several calls yesterday demanding that the story be carried.

Mr. Jagdeo has already served two terms as President and is prevented by law from serving a third term in office. The same story carried by the Chronicle on Friday was carried one day earlier by the Guyana Times. The Guyana Times is owned and controlled by the best friend of the former President.

The story claims that the newspapers got information that “secret polls” conducted by the Opposition parties have found that Mr. Jagdeo is the most formidable candidate to lead the PPP if snap elections are called.

Senior Opposition members have since declared that they never conducted any such poll and are more focused on rallying their base for local government elections and any snap elections that could be called.

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