At the request of one of the members of the Diplomatic Corps, Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir today met with foreign diplomats in Guyana, two days after he lashed out at some of them while announcing a date for the election of the Opposition Leader.

The meeting went on for over an hour, and according to US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, the meeting was informal and interesting.

“It was just a very interesting, informal meeting with the Speaker, and he just talked a little bit about the upcoming session of Parliament for the budget and the upcoming election for the Leader of the Opposition”, Theriot said.

She confirmed that the meeting was requested by the Diplomatic Corps in Guyana. On the issue of the Speaker singling out the US for criticism over her earlier call for the election of the Leader of the Opposition to take place without delay, Ambassador Theriot said the Speaker is entitled to his opinion and she did not feel targeted.

“I don’t feel like he targeted us, I think he simply expressed his opinion which he has a right to do”, she said, while noting that she is pleased that the election for the Leader of the Opposition will take place on Monday, ahead of the Budget presentation.

In his statement two days ago, the Speaker of the National Assembly, described as “absurd” the position of the Western Diplomats who were calling for the elections for the Opposition Leader to take place without delay. The 13th Parliament was convened in early November, but the office of the Opposition Leader was left empty as no date was set for the election of the Opposition Leader to take place.

The WIN party is the largest party in the Opposition and its Leader, Azruddin Mohamed is the presumptive Leader of the Opposition. Mohamed and his father are currently fighting off an extradition request by the United States to face an 11-count indictment in Florida related to allegations of wire and mail fraud and tax evasion related to gold exports from Guyana. Both the father and son have denied the allegations and are fighting the extradition request.

The Speaker in his statement admitted to not earlier setting a date for the elections because he is uncomfortable with Mohamed becoming the holder of the Constitutional position. He described Mohamed as an ” international fugitive offender” while also noting that he remains under US sanctions.

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Sebastian Segouin said the election of the Opposition Leader taking place would be a good thing for Guyana.

“We will have Parliament meeting on Monday with the election of the Leader of the Opposition and that’s a good thing for Guyana”, he said.

The meeting for the Leader of the Opposition is set for next Monday at 10am.

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