GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President of Guyana David Granger has made it clear that he will choose the ‘best’ candidate to run beside him as Prime Minister for the upcoming 2020 General and Regional Elections.
However, the Alliance for Change (AFC), which joined forces with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) in 2015, has already chosen Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan as its Prime Ministerial candidate. This is per the agreement of the Cummingsburg Accord, which is currently being reviewed.
The Head of State pointed out that the constitution does not allow for any party to pick a Prime Ministerial candidate, only he has such a privilege.
“Once the President is elected, the President has the authority under the constitution to select a Prime Minister”, he said.
President Granger noted that an agreement can be made outside of the constitution that the Prime Ministerial candidate, or rather, nominees for the position, could be named, but he is still the one who has the final say.
“I will make the choice…that is why at this stage I don’t want to get involved in personalities, once the principle is agreed, we can move forward. I don’t want to name names now,” he stated.
The President outlined that whoever is nominated for the PM candidacy will be subjected to scrutiny to ensure that Guyana gets the ‘best’.
“I am a prudent and wise leader and I will make the choice which I feel will deliver the best results, the best outcome for the people of Guyana…If candidate A or candidate B is the best, I will choose”.
Following the ongoing review of the Cummingsburg Accord, the AFC remains firm on their position that either Khemraj Ramjattan would become the PM candidate or the coalition will be no more.
The APNU and AFC heads met next week Wednesday and the President is hopeful that the talks will conclude before December 1.
