Granger, Jagdeo will only meet after declaration of elections results

President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat have agreed to meet and discuss the way forward after a declaration of the election results is made.

When contacted by the News Room Sunday, Mr Jagdeo confirmed that he spoke with Mr Granger Sunday and he (Jagdeo) reiterated his position that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must first do its work and declare the winner of the polls before there are any talks about Guyana’s political future.

“He [Mr Granger] called me and we spoke and he said to me there was a proposal for an interlocutor, a broker and he does not support that and I do not support it too. So I reiterated my position to him and he said he will communicate back to me,” Mr Jagdeo told the News Room.

According to Mr Jagdeo, he and the incumbent President both committed to having discussions after the declaration when it became apparent that talks now are out of the question.

The proposal for the two political leaders to meet was made by the APNU nominated GECOM Commissioners to the Chairman of GECOM Justice (rt’d) Claudette Singh Sunday.

According to Mr Jagdeo, the GECOM Chair explored the proposal and made contact with him and Mr Granger.

“I repeated my position to her that we [the PPP] are prepared to meet after a declaration. There was no proposal for a meeting.

“We are prepared to discuss in the future a governance model which is included in our manifesto,” Mr Jagdeo said.

It would be the first time in almost four months that the two leaders have spoken since the country’s elections impasse and according to Mr Jagdeo, the results should be declared now to “take this country out of this state of paralysis.”

The meeting between the GECOM Chair and the Commission has been adjourned to 14:00h Sunday.

Singh had written the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield on July 30 immediately after the Court of Appeal ruling to submit his elections report to the Commission by 10 am Sunday using the figures from the national vote recount which shows a victory for the Opposition People’s Progressive Party.

But Lowenfield has again disobeyed the clear instructions of the GECOM Chair and showed up at Sunday’s meeting without the report.

It is not clear what reason he gave the Chairman for not submitting the report.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday last upheld the decision of Chief Justice Roxane George that the national vote recount is valid and that the Chief Elections Officer, as an employee of GECOM, must do as he is told.

The appeal was dismissed as being frivolous and vexatious and further abuse of the Court.