Excited” Jagdeo becomes Leader of the Opposition and promises to work with Government

Mr. Jagdeo was elected Leader of the Opposition during a short meeting with members of the Opposition which was chaired by the Speaker and observed by the Clerk of the National Assembly.

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo was on Monday afternoon officially elected as the Leader of the Opposition. He promised to work close with the new government to advance policies and projects that benefit the people of Guyana, once the new government remains faithful to its promises on the campaign trail.

Mr. Jagdeo was elected Leader of the Opposition during a short meeting with members of the Opposition which was chaired by the Speaker and observed by the Clerk of the National Assembly.

During an interview just after the closed-door meeting, the Opposition Leader said he is “excited” to return to the National Assembly and noted that the PPP in opposition intends to take on a different path compared to the APNU and AFC in opposition.

Mr. Jagdeo said “I was truly happy to be out of competitive politics but since I have made this commitment and I am back in, I don’t do things by half measures but I am starting to feel the excitement of parliament again”.

He said the Opposition under his watch will move to ensure the government remains “accountable” to the people of Guyana.

” I have made it clear that we are going to be a very different opposition than what they were “, Jagdeo said.

He noted that under the last PPP government, the APNU+AFC cut the budget and that affected the state of the economy. The Opposition Leader said he intends to push the government to fulfill its elections promises.

“They are now in government and we are urging them to fulfil their promises that they made to people, they can’t come to us and say we didn’t do it because we did not make those promises in our manifesto.”

Jagdeo challenged the government’s contention that it met a “bankrupt” treasury saying that cannot be true, since the government has presented a larger budget.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo offered congratulations to the new Opposition Leader on his election to the new office.