PPP expected to boycott Granger’s special address to Parliament

The National Assembly will resume on Thursday, November 2, 2017, after a three-month recess.

President David Granger is on the agenda to address the Parliament but from all indications, the Parliamentary opposition will once again boycott the event.

The Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo is confident that the President’s speech will be his usual narrative of social cohesion and a green economy but he was mum on whether his parliamentarians will be present for the address.

“We will get another of how we’re doing well on the border, good life speech, green state economy, the need to do value-added activities. We’ll get a speech about the interior is the new frontier for development, we’ll get a speech about governance, that sort of thing,” Jagdeo told reporters during a news conference at his Church Street Office on Wednesday.

He said, “(The President) did the same thing at the Private Sector Summit. No departure from these stock speeches that are meaningless to the people on the ground.”

The Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) have, in the past, boycotted the President’s address to the Parliament in protest of several matters.

Jagdeo has already committed his party to non-cooperation with the government over the unilateral appointment of the chairman of the elections commission.

He explained that the non-cooperation vow will only extend to forums which are “meaningless”.

The Opposition Leader said the MPs will definitely be participating in some sessions.

“We have a motion on the prisons and we want to expose how this government through its own actions probably led to some of the difficulties we had in the prison. So we are not going to miss that opportunity in parliament but in relation to the president’s speech, you will hear more from us or see more from us tomorrow,” he stated.

Additionally, a number of reports are expected to be circulated Thursday including the Commission of Inquiry (COI) reports into the Camp Street prison unrest and the alleged presidential assassination plot.