Politics

​President David Granger says Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo’s list of six names for GECOM Chairman is “unacceptable.” He said the Constitution provides for the person to have been a judge. “The only thing about the list is that it comprises six names,” Granger told a media brunch. He noted that ultimately if the lists submitted by the Opposition Leader, he ...

Outgoing PPP general secretary Clement Rohee did not re-contest the position against de facto party leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, instead nominating Dr Frank Anthony who lost against Jagdeo by 13 votes. Jagdeo, the party’s incoming General Secretary, spoke with the media after his win today saying his positions as PPP General Secretary and Opposition Leader allows for a consolidation of the ...

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo was Saturday elected as General Secretary of his People’s Progressive Party (PPP), a move that appeared set to see him consolidate power among a new guard of party leaders. Sources confirmed that the 35-member Central Committee voted to replace long-time PPP member, Clement Rohee at their first Central Committee meeting since the recent  PPP Congress. At ...

Guyana has decided to set up a ministerial sub-committee to help craft a  Diaspora policy, following recent concerns by New York-based Guyanese that they are being left out of decision-making. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon said the roadmap for crafting the Diaspora Engagement Policy has alread received support from, among others, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM). He said Cabinet has ...

Opposition MP Priya Manickchand has mixed feelings about the appointment of 9 Senior Counsel by President David Granger recently after the last appointments were made some 20 years ago. In the National Assembly today, Manickchand, who should have been debating the proposed Value Added Tax amendment for budget 2017, sought to congratulate Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams ...

The National Assembly today approved an amendment to the Customs (Amendment) Act which applies a $10 environmental levy payable by importers and local manufacturers of non-returnable units of metal, plastic or glass container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage or water. The amendment is part of a regime of measures which will bring the provisions of Budget 2017 into full ...

President David Granger on Tuesday said he reshuffled the cabinet to address management problems at the Ministry of Public Health, improve inter-racial relations and address problems of the rural poor. In confirming the replacement of Minister George Norton at the Ministry of Public Health with Minister Volda Lawrence, Granger alluded the management problems in the health ministry. “Largely, it’s a ...

In what appears to be a demotion, Minister George Norton has been sent packing to the Ministry of Social Cohesion after several controversies over drug procurement under his watch at the Ministry of Public Health. A Ministry of the Presidency official confirmed that Volda Lawrence has been shifted from Ministry of Social Protection to the Ministry of Public Health. Amna ...

A Board member of the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) has accused government of engaging in “executive lawlessness” by failing to obtain a Court Order  to expel the centre from Red House, a move that harks back to the 1970s and 1980s. “The attempted unlawful seizure of Red House, unlawful restriction of the movement of the occupants and the unlawful ...

Proposals to sell off a number of estates of the bankrupt state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation and shed non-core operations like drainage and health services were Saturday shared with the unions and the opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC). The talks come against the background of claims and counter-claims for the poor state of the industry. They include the 36 percent ...