In response to a question as to whether he would now hold more frequent interactions with the media, Head of State, David Granger has said that the duties of a President are “burdensome” and so he is unable to meet with the local press as frequently as he would like.
“As Leader of the Opposition, I had more frequent engagements with the media and I would like to have more frequent engagements with the media now, as I repeated at our annual brunch in January. One of the problems that face me now is scheduling and I’m not trying to kick the ball down the road but it is sometimes very difficult to schedule press conferences as frequently as I’d like,” he said.
This is has been the President’s third press conference in three years since the Coalition Government took office following the 2015 General and Regional Elections.
“Certainly, when as Leader of the Opposition I’d [meet with the] press a few times a week, I’d have a radio broadcast, I’d have face to face interviews…but that simply is not possible now with my schedule,” he asserted.
Moreover, as he further sought to justify himself, the Head of State posited that he has to “make certain [overseas] trips,- which I have been trying to reduce-, I have to go to different parts of the country and it’s a big country, I have to [take part in some] official duties…I am also Leader of the…People’s National Congress…I will be going into the Local Government Elections as a member of my party, the APNU, to go out and campaign.”
As such, he told the media that he would not compare the duties he performed as the Opposition Leader to the ones he is now tasked with as President.
“… so I wouldn’t compare the duties that I performed as the Leader of the Opposition with the duties I perform as the President. The duties of a president are much more burdensome and there are many more clashes and I’ve tried as best I could to, and I will continue to try to have more frequent engagement.” (Ramona Luthi)
