Jagdeo: Parliament is proper place for dialogue
Stabroek News
July 11, 2004

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President Bharrat Jagdeo says dialogue with the Opposition Leader Robert Corbin must not be a substitute for the parliamentary process.

"I welcome dialogue, but the dialogue at our level must not be a substitute for what takes place at the level of Parliament," Jagdeo said yesterday at Guysuco's Demerara Estates Regional Honour Roll Function.

A news bulletin from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said he was correcting "a misleading report" published in yesterday's edition of the Stabroek News. The article said the President was no longer keen on talks with Corbin, but rather an engagement in the purview of the public.

"If there is an issue that Opposition Leader wants to meet me on, he is free to contact my office at any time... that is what I encourage," he said.

GINA reported that Jagdeo repeated statements he had originally made the evening before, saying that he did not wish for his work with the Opposition Leader to subvert the functions of the Parliament.

"Therefore, I believe that the dialogue that was traditionally conducted in the past at our level should be taken to the Parliament so it could be done in the full purview of the people of this country, all the people," he said, adding that it would allow for scrutiny.