New PM sworn in
By Gitanjali Singh
Finance Minister, Bharrat Jagdeo, was yesterday sworn in as prime minister at a simple ceremony at the Office of the President and will be sworn in as the country's seventh president tomorrow afternoon. Jagdeo, 35, took the oath in the presence of former prime minister Sam Hinds, who resigned his position to facilitate Jagdeo's accession to the presidency, other government ministers and the media. "Standing here is the 'A' team as we presented ourselves [to the electorate]. We haven't changed, except maybe a little more battered and a little wiser from December [1997] campaigning," outgoing President Janet Jagan said, holding hands with Jagdeo and Hinds after the ceremony. Mrs Jagan, who is stepping down for health reasons, said she would tender her resignation on Wednesday and Jagdeo would be sworn in as the new president at 3 pm. The PPP last Saturday agreed that the 'A' team formula be kept, with Jagdeo being made the president and Hinds the prime minister. Hinds tendered his resignation on Sunday to facilitate the transfer of power from Jagan to Jagdeo and the swearing-in ceremony yesterday was the second aspect of the process. The next step is Mrs Jagan's resignation and Jagdeo's ascendancy to the presidency. Mrs Jagan said that Jagdeo will have the distinction of being the youngest president in this hemisphere. "I want to say this is a proud moment. This is just one of the steps and I invite all of you [to be here] when I submit my resignation and the new president takes office, which is Wednesday at 3 pm," Mrs Jagan said. Jagdeo's wife, Uma who is to graduate in October from the Open University in the UK, is scheduled to return for the swearing-in ceremony. She only left Guyana last Sunday. General Secretary of the PPP, Donald Ramoutar, indicated that after Jagdeo is sworn in as president, consideration would be given to appointing a new minister of finance as well as the possibility of a new minister of trade. Both he and Presidential Adviser, Kellawan Lall, indicated that several candidates are under consideration. Jagdeo has not availed himself to speak to the media since his swearing in and indicated that he would speak at a later date.
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