In a letter last week to the President, responding to a March 15, 2002 letter from Mr. Jagdeo, the Opposition Leader said the Head of State should not have been surprised that the dialogue had been put on hold by his party.

"There ought really to have been no surprise. I have, on repeated occasions, publicly expressed my dissatisfaction with the implementation of various decisions we had taken", he said.

In his letter, Hoyte again noted his Central Executive Committee (CEC) had determined that the dialogue process should be halted, claiming that after nearly one year of the process and several decisions taken, "you have failed, for whatever reason, to ensure that those decisions were implemented fully or at all."

Mr. Jagdeo has denied the charges and outlined several areas in which decisions had been taken but the PNC/R leader, in the lengthy letter to the President repeated grievances with the Government which led to the `pause' in the dialogue.

Hoyte said several important constitutional reforms have been delayed for far too long, adding that most of these have been mandated by the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) and consequential amendments to the Constitution itself.

He said the PNC/R's CEC "is most concerned about the Fabian tactics being employed in finalising these reforms and is insisting that they be concluded with dispatch." He took issue with points the President made in his March 15 letter saying that Mr. Jagdeo had "made no reference at all to the issue of the Depoliticisation of the Public Service...a matter which I had explicitly raised."

With respect to the issue of National Policy on the Distribution of Land and House Lots, "you have chosen to ignore the fact that the government was obligated to lay this State Paper in the National Assembly by December 31, 2000", Hoyte said.

"This not having been done, we had agreed in the course of the dialogue to appoint a Joint Committee to deal with the very matters with which the State Paper should have dealt. Suffice it to say, Minister (Shaik) Baksh's recalcitrance ensured that the Joint Committee failed to agree on anything and its work was aborted", he said.

He restated concerns about the work of the Depressed Community Needs Committee, the establishment of the Ethnic Relations Commission, and membership of State Boards, Commissions and Committees.

Hoyte said that with respect to the issue of the Parliamentary Management Committee, the Sectoral Committees, the Appointments Committee and the Constitutional Reform Committee, "there is an impasse between our representatives."

"The issues involved are clearly defined and are now very much in the public domain", he said.

He said PNC/R considers that the "formalisation of these committees should be approached as a comprehensive package; it is not inclined to engage in any piecemeal haggling. In the meantime, we reject, out of hand, any allegation that we are in any way responsible for the non-constitution of any Committee or Commission."

Hoyte also repeated concerns about the Border and National Security Committee and the Radio Monopoly and Non-partisan Boards Committee.

"For all of the above reasons, my Central Executive Committee has taken the view that there should be a pause in the dialogue until all agreements have been actually implemented. This is not an unreasonable position to take", the Opposition Leader argued.

...President Jagdeo's position
IN HIS March 15 letter to Mr. Hoyte, President Jagdeo had said the decision of the PNC/R Central Executive Committee to put the dialogue process on "pause" was "indeed surprising in the context of the understanding we reached during our last dialogue meetings on February 18 and 19, 2002."

He said it was his "distinct recollection that we reviewed aspects of the dialogue and notwithstanding the non-issuance of a joint statement", had shared the following:

1. The Report of Border and National Security Committee

"The understanding was that the report would be tabled in the National Assembly for the consideration of the yet-to-be-appointed Sectoral Committee on Foreign Affairs. There was a recognition that the report had to be censored before it became a public document and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was tasked with that responsibility. At the meeting of the 19th February, I informed you that a copy of that report was sent to the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for editing and our subsequent review.

2. National Policy on Distribution of Land and House Lots

I had proposed an extension of the February 2002 deadline to March 2002 in the context of our failure to convene the National Assembly as a result of non-conclusion of matters related to its management and the composition of the sectoral committees.

3. Depressed Communities Committee

I had informed you that since the DeKinderen community was a squatting area, its regularisation was necessary before GPL commenced its electrification exercise there. Minister Shaik Baksh's letter on regularisation of that squatter settlement was shared with you on Tuesday, February 19 and attached please find another copy of that letter.

The Government's decision to build a new primary school in Buxton antedated our dialogue and it did not contemplate the inadequacies of the contractor (Mr. Ambrose). Notwithstanding the support given by the administration up to and including today, the Ministry's latest forecast for the completion of the school is the Easter school term.

4. Report of the Committee of Radio Monopoly and Non-Partisan Boards

I recall that you were informed on February 19, 2002 that copy of that report was sent to the Attorney General Chambers for the drafting of the necessary legislation.

5. Ethnic Relations Commission

The Ethnic Relations Commission issue has been complicated by the unexplained inaction by the Clerk of the National Assembly. I want to share with you once again the explanation offered by Mr. Narain.

6. PNC/R Membership on State Boards, Commission and Committees

I wish to draw to your attention that PNC/R nominees are serving on over 50 state boards, commissions and committees. In those few instances where appointments have not been made, Dr. Luncheon provided your General Secretary, Mr. Oscar Clarke, with explanations.

7. Parliamentary Management Committee and Sectoral Committees

The Parliamentary Management Committee and the four Sectoral Committees remain unestablished as a result of failure of our representatives to reach agreement on the issue of composition. You would recall that I raised that matter and suggested that we deal with it at our level. You suggested that this issue would be dealt with at a subsequent meeting. I propose, again, that we address urgently this outstanding matter.

In view of the above, I remain surprised at your Central Executive Committee loss of support for the dialogue process.

I would suggest that we meet at our earliest convenience to address these and other matters."