Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly news conference Wednesday, said the Office of the President would like to clear the air on the Jagdeo/Corbin talks and its evolution, in the context of ambiguous statements being made about the Office of the President's resolve and questioning its commitment.

"We are optimistic about the possibility of a meeting within the shortest possible time and in that regard the office will continue to advance the process with that aim in mind," Luncheon said.

"The Office of the President reiterates the commitment of both parties to meet and has absolutely no reason, no cause, to doubt that the commitments are real and current."

He added that the Office of the President is aware of the controversies which swirl around the modalities that would underpin the meeting.

The representative of the Office of the President has always acted in a balanced way and "has every reason to insist that the facts of its action would bear this out," Luncheon stressed.

Dispelling speculation that the Office of the President has sought to delay the process of arranging the meeting, he said the representative has insisted that he has not sought to delay the process and that the allegation that the expansion of the team to represent the President to include Ministers Dr. Henry Jeffrey and Ms. Gail Teixeira and himself, "should not be seen and cannot be seen as a delaying tactic", he said.

The representative has also insisted that he has not sought in any way to put pressure on his counterparts, but has sought to contribute matters to the agenda that address mutual concerns and national priorities, Luncheon said.

The dialogue between President Jagdeo and the late Leader of the PNC/R, Mr. Desmond Hoyte was put on pause by the PNC/R alleging that the Government had failed to implement projects agreed to during the talks.

However, on his succeeding Mr. Hoyte last month, Mr. Corbin accepted an invitation from the President to meet.