No resolution to elections deadline seen -Jagdeo

Guyana’s oil & gas point man – Bharrat Jagdeo

With the constitutional deadline to hold elections following the December 21 passage of a no-confidence motion against the government expiring at the end of Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo does not foresee a resolution for which he blames President David Granger.

The country will head into uncharted waters should an agreement not be reached by the governing APNU+AFC coalition and opposition PPP/C to extend the deadline. A two-thirds majority in the National Assembly is required for this and the government thus needs the support of opposition parliamentarians. The opposition has been insisting on elections by April 30th while the government has said that it is the Guyana Elections Commission that has to advise when it would be ready. Both sides remain deadlocked and Granger is currently in Cuba where he is undergoing treatment for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

“Doubt it. The President gave an ‘it’s not me’ address to the nation and left for Cuba,” Jagdeo told Stabroek News yesterday when asked if he believed a resolution to the deadlock could be reached in time.