Opposition Leader’s Office standoff…

…says Govt’s action “disrespectful” and “unacceptable”

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is peeved that they were only able to recover a minuscule  portion of the assets that belonged to the Office of the Opposition Leader after they were blocked  by the Government despite Minister of State Joseph Harmon assuring that the assets were available to be uplifted by the Opposition. The PPP/C said the actions of the Government were “unacceptable” and “disrespectful”.

Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira watches on as they take possession of a few items belonging to the Office of the Opposition Leader

Earlier this week, the PPP/C Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, who was appointed to receive the assets, had  accused Government of stymieing the work of Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo with its inability to hand over State assets to furnish the new Office of the Opposition Leader, which is located on Church Street, Georgetown.

In response, Minister Joseph Harmon had denied the claim, saying that the assets are available for pick up at any given time. “They could have it now, they could have had it last week,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

However, when the Opposition Chief Whip along with two other PPP Parliamentarians showed up at the Hadfield Street Office on Thursday morning to uplift the items, they were told that they can only remove some of the furniture but no other electronic equipment, with the exception of a photocopier.

“So we are back to square one again… there are pieces of furniture up there that are part of the Office of the Leader of Opposition, they said we can’t have access to those today and they will let us know when they will be available for us to come and collect it,” Teixeira told media operatives as they were moving the few items they were permitted to remove from the premises.

A subsequent statement from the Party later that day detailed that they were only allowed to move a few desks and chairs, a photocopier, two filing cabinets, a partition and a water dispenser.

Furthermore, the Opposition Party disclosed it was indicated to them that the remaining items which are located in the upper flat of the building could not be handed over since Advisers from the Ministry of the Presidency were still using them. Additionally, Teixeira explained to reporters that there were several items on the ground floor, which had the Office of the Leader of the Opposition tags but were not allowed to be moved.

Teixeira pointed out this is unacceptable since they will now have to return another day to uplift the remaining assets. She pointed out that this will cost the Opposition more expenses as they will have to rehire moving vehicles and labour to remove the remaining items.

“This is really disrespectful! And it will mean that we will have to wait again as if we are children… the office of the Opposition Leader, which is constitutionally provided for, and the Leader of the Opposition is not being treated with respect by this Government,” she stated.

Moreover, the PPP Opposition Party outlined that Minister Harmon’s statement on Tuesday with respect to the transfer of the assets for Leader of the Opposition’s office is “dishonest and conflicting”.

The party noted that the Chief Whip has been in constant contact with the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, to facilitate the handover. However, she indicated the Party’s intention of moving the assets on Monday last but was advised on Saturday evening that the transfer could not be done on Monday since the Minister of State had indicated that “they are not ready as yet,” hence the handover was postponed to Thursday.

“The Ministry of the Presidency has no role in the transfer of the assets from the Parliament Office to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. This intrusion by the Ministry of the Presidency is a deliberate attempt to stymie the work of the Leader of the Opposition,” the PPP posited.

Furthermore, the Opposition Chief Whip highlighted that the new Leader of the Opposition Office, located on Church Street, formerly housed the Surinamese embassy. Teixeira explained that PPP used the exact template that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had used to rent their office while in Opposition and is also paying the same rent of $400,000.