When they put the dialogue on pause and Mr Hoyte came to talk about the appointment of Mr Winston Felix as Commissioner of Police, I asked him to let us re-engage,” Mr Jagdeo reported in an interview with Prime News Editor-in-Chief Adam Harris.

The Head of State said he also wrote Hoyte, urging him to resume their talks and telling him that the efforts, at the level of their representatives, Mr Lance Carberry and Mr Reepu Daman Persaud, are not making any headway.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said President Jagdeo pointed out that the Opposition does not want ministers to occupy seats on the parliamentary committees but he argued that, should he agree, there will not be sufficient parliamentarians to sit on such committees.

He said the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) is reluctant to concede on the proposal of making some ministers technocrats, thereby reducing the number of representatives on each of the committees, from six on the Government side and five on the other.

GINA said the Government is, at present, seeking legal advice on how to proceed with the matter but President Jagdeo is confident that there could be a resolution to the parliamentary impasse.

Remarking that the issue is holding “at ransom” the appointments to all service commissions, GINA said the Administration recognises the impact it is having on the country and, moreso, on the promotion, recruitment and dismissal of public servants within the Public Service.

He said the Government is, therefore, committed to restarting the dialogue which was initiated in April 2001.

“I am always open for discussions. We have put together a package. When Mr Hoyte came to see me, prior to the start of the dialogue process, I indicated that I am always in favour of dialogue. I may have strong views on some issues, but I said that you can sit across the table and see if the arguments are reasonable. Then you can make tremendous progress,” the President said.