President Dr Irfaan Ali today met with former presidents Donald Ramotar, Bharrat Jagdeo and Samuel Hinds to discuss ways in which they can work together to develop the country.
Though former president David Granger was invited to the meeting, he refused to attend.
Just a few days ago, a statement from the People’s National Congress Reform – the largest party in the APNU/AFC coalition and of which Granger is the leader – rejected the invitation from President Ali.
The PNC/R statement indicated that there is not enough explanation as to the purpose of the meeting nor an agenda for review before the engagement.
However, this was not communicated to the president, says Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira.
“I am not aware of any postponement requested by Mr Granger or anything from Mr Granger. I am not aware that the President is postponing or there is any change in terms of rearrangement at this point. I think it is still going forward for tomorrow [today] because I have not been advised otherwise. I don’t see the reason for a postponement because Mr Granger has still not responded to me, as the person who sent the invitation on behalf of the President,” Teixeira told this publication on Monday.
When he first announced the meeting, President Ali had stated that it would serve as an opportunity for the former Guyanese leaders to share ideas and work towards Guyana’s development.
“It will be an open-floor meeting, where we’ll bring together all the former Presidents. I think that it’s an opportunity for us to continue to share ideas, generate ideas; for us to talk about how we see Guyana’s development, different perspectives and then to work out a model and a framework on how we engage in the future and how we will have continuous contributions,” the Head of State had explained.
