Further discussions with Ramotar on LGE is pointless -Granger

Further discussions with Ramotar on LGE is pointless  -Granger

Leader of the Opposition, David Granger has declared that he does not intend to further meeting with President Donald Ramotar on setting a date for Local Government Elections because discussions with the President about the local elections have become “pointless”.

On Friday morning, the Opposition Leader announced that all talks with the President on Local Government Elections are off, following the President’s statements to the National Toshaos Conference that it would be “foolish” for him to set a date for Local Government Elections at this time.  Local Government Elections were last held in Guyana in 1994.

Twenty years later, the government does not appear to be budging to pressure from the International Community and the opposition political parties about setting a date for the elections. The Donald Ramotar administration has maneuvered its way through deadlines and demands thrown its way for the hosting of local government polls.

Mr. Granger said the President is not serious about local government elections and his party, the APNU, intends to continue its protests for the elections.

“I don’t intend to continue meeting him. It would be pointless”, Granger said, in response to questions about any possible future meetings with the President on the issue of Local Government Elections.

It was the President who had requested the meetings with the Opposition Leader on the issue of local government elections and at those meetings, he even proposed a timeline for the possible hosting of the elections early next year. However when he met with Amerindian Leaders for their National Conference on Wednesday, Mr. Ramotar declared that he would be “rightly ridiculed by any right thinking person if, when faced by such a situation, to instruct the minister to set a date for any local government election. That is foolish to do something like that”.

Asked by News Source if following that statement by the President, he feels as if he was duped into the meetings, Granger declared “no” and said he had a constitutional obligation as Leader of the Opposition to engage the President on the issue.

“I wouldn’t say I was duped. I was fulfilling my constitutional obligation as Leader of the Opposition. The meeting was held at his request and there was no outcome and he has made an announcement to the National Toshaos Conference and I will regard it as the last word on the subject”, Granger said.

Filed: 31st October, 2014

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