A team of MPs from Guyana’s parliamentary opposition is scheduled to meet US House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Washington D.C. on 27th September 2023, a statement from APNU said yesterday.
The team of representatives is headed by Leader of the Opposition Aubrey C. Norton and includes:
1. Dawn Hastings, MP, PNCR General Secretary.
2. Ganesh Mahipaul, MP, Shadow Local Government Minister and PNCR Executive Committee Member.
3. Roysdale Forde, MP, Shadow Attorney General and PNCR Executive Committee Member.
4. Amanza Walton-Desir, MP, Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and PNCR Executive Committee Member.
5. Nima Flue Bess, MP, PNCR member.
6. Catherine Hughes, MP, Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Party.
7. David Patterson, MP, Shadow Minister of Public Works and AFC Executive Committee Member.
8. Deonarine Ramsaroop, MP, AFC member.
9. Vincent Henry, MP, Leader of Guyana Action Party (GAP).
The release said that the meeting with Jeffries and his team is expected to “focus on the opportunities and challenges confronting Guyana and on how political stakeholders in the country can work together to ensure that all Guyanese citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from the country’s oil wealth”.
Jeffries himself had referred to the impending meeting after he and other congressional representatives met with President Irfaan Ali and his delegation in Washington.
Jeffries in a statement on the meeting had said “During the meeting we discussed several critical issues, including regional and energy security, the climate crisis and the importance of an inclusive society in Guyana that involved full economic participation and civic engagement by Guyanese-Africans and Guyanese-Indians. We also discussed electoral reform, strengthening democratic institutions and the need to bolster access to banking and financial services in the Caribbean region.
“In the next few weeks, a delegation of House Members, myself included, will meet with leaders of the Guyanese opposition party to continue our dialogue about the opportunities and challenges confronting the Republic of Guyana and other nations within the African diaspora in the Western Hemisphere.
“We will continue to encourage the government and the opposition to work together to ensure that all Guyanese citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit from the economic growth underway in the South American nation”.
