Only the best for Guyana
– Pres. Granger says of PM candidacy
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The choice of a Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2020 General and Regional Elections, will be aligned with what is best for the people of Guyana. This is according to His Excellency, President David Granger.
The Head of State made this pronouncement on the sidelines of an accreditation ceremony earlier today.
His Excellency, President David Granger.
To this end, the president noted that he is very respectful of the contributions the six parties can make to the victory of the Coalition.
“I am a prudent and wise leader, and I will make the choice which, I believe, will deliver the best results for the people of Guyana. My objectives and that of the six parties in the Coalition would be to ensure that Guyana gets the best.”
Asked about his running mate for the March 2, 2020 Elections, President Granger reiterated that he is not interested in personalities, but policies.
“Once the principles are agreed, we can move forward. I don’t want to name names now… I want to make sure we win, and once we win, the country is well-governed. So, whoever the nominee is will be subject to scrutiny.”
Both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) have been holding preliminary talks to work through a three-stage process. Stage one – the agreement of the core principles, has already been completed. One major point of the core principles, decided on by the two parties, was that nothing appearing in the Cummingsburg Accord should conflict with the constitution. President Granger said the two sides addressed those issues appearing in the Accord of 2015.
Among those, was the scope of a political party to choose a Prime Ministerial candidate. The Constitution of Guyana allows only the president of the country to select the Prime Minister.
“There is nothing in the constitution that allows a party to choose a Prime Ministerial candidate. Once the president is elected, he has the authority under the constitution to select a Prime Minister. We can have an agreement outside the constitution that the PM candidate or nominees for the post could be made, and I could make the choice,” the president explained.
Meanwhile, reporting on his meeting with AFC leader and Minister of Public Security, Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan last Thursday, President Granger said the leaders dealt with issues that were referred to them by the respective teams during the preliminary talks.
The Head of State said there has been progress and noted that coalition partners will have the opportunity to make certain recommendations. The two sides met again today. They hope to conclude the talks by December 1.