Granger formally says no to talks until Parliament recalled

Opposition Leader David Granger has formally written President Donald Ramotar telling him that there will be no talks with the government as long as Parliament remains prorogued.

An APNU statement today said that Granger has formally stated his position in a response to a letter from Ramotar on November 18th inviting dialogue on the way forward.

Both A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have previously said that there will be no talks unless Parliament is recalled.

Observers say the pressure will now continue to build on Ramotar to either reconvene Parliament, which he suspended on November 10, or dissolve Parliament and move to elections. Explaining his move to prorogue Parliament on November 10, Ramotar had said that if there was no prospect of dialogue with the opposition he would move to early elections. Ramotar suspended Parliament to thwart a motion of no-confidence which was to be piloted by the AFC.

The statement today from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition follows:

Brigadier David Granger, Leader of the Opposition, has responded to the letter from President Donald Ramotar dated 18th November 2014 and entitled ‘Inter-Prorogation Dialogue’.

The Opposition Leader iterated that APNU would be unprepared to participate in such a proposed dialogue for as long as the Parliament of Guyana remained prorogued.