Jagdeo apologises for “devide” sign in Parliament

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo Wednesday said his only regret about the protest in Parliament last Thursday was the misspelling of a word on his placard.

“I must apologise, it’s a bad example for children. I had my (sign) ‘strangling democracy’ and then I borrowed one of the placards from the back and I held it up without looking at it,” he explained.

Jagdeo, however, explained that “devide” is an obsolete form of the word “divide”.

“That’s the way the word was spelt when [President David] Granger and [GECOM Chairman Justice James] Patterson were young and so, they didn’t see anything wrong with the word,” he stated.

Social media began buzzing after a photo of him holding up the sign went viral. President David Granger even joined in the humour during an address in New York over the weekend as he addressed the North American Region of the People’s National Congress Reform. President Granger stated “the PNC is the face of the future. We are what Guyana looks like, not the people that you saw on Thursday. We can spell.”

Meanwhile, Jagdeo maintained that the protest led by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) achieved its objectives which were to raise their concerns to the international community and to express their dissatisfaction with the unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman.

He contended that the protest did no harm to the country’s national pride nor did it lack civility as he compared what transpired previously during other forms of protests where buildings were burnt and persons were beaten.

Asked whether the PPP will be conducting another protest in the National Assembly, Jagdeo said “wait and see.”