“The people of Guyana have won and I really believe that this, if it continues, will set the tone for really productive engagements that will lead to greater stability and our people issues can be focused on in a more direct way,” said President Jagdeo.

The President made these statements during a special interview with Mr. Dwayne Fowler of GTV-11 at State House last Friday.

The communiqué, dealing with several issues that are of great concern to both the Government and the main Opposition Party, was signed by President Jagdeo and Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Mr. Robert Corbin on Tuesday last at the Office of the President.

The signing of the communiqué ended a 14-month political impasse between the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the PNC/R. The dialogue process between President Jagdeo and the late Leader of the PNCR, Mr. Desmond Hoyte, was put on ‘pause’ by Mr. Hoyte in April 2002, shortly after the PNCR Members of Parliament walked out of the National Assembly.

The Head of State said the Government could now spend more time on matters affecting people rather than on political issues. He added that more attention could also be focused on social and economic-related issues.

He reiterated that there are no victors and vanquished or winners and losers in this situation, but the people of Guyana have won.

President Jagdeo explained that there was a lot of behind-the-scene work and a lot of give-and-take. He added, “I think what was good about this process was the good faith and spirit of the engagement.”

“We have had our representatives engaged over the last three months. They have been working quietly and steadily. They have made progress, although sometimes there were disagreements, but I think there was a good spirit in the discussions and because of the good spirit and good faith, we managed to resolve most of the issues,” said President Jagdeo.

Three representatives from the Office of the President were identified to finalise the arrangements for the talks between President Jagdeo and Mr. Corbin. The representatives were Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Gail Teixeira, and Minister of Education, Dr. Henry Jeffrey.

It was noted that the agreements reached in the communiqué should be beneficial for the long-term social, economic and political development of Guyana. The agreements in the communiqué were finalised during a meeting between President Jagdeo and Mr. Corbin last Monday evening.

The President explained, “By the time I got together with Mr. Corbin, the Parliamentary issues had been settled and we focused on some other items on the agenda. We managed through the night to get through several of those issues. We still have a few remaining issues on the original agenda, but those are largely issues that I put on the agenda for discussions.”

The President said there has to be follow-up mechanisms in place to ensure that the decisions that were agreed on between himself and Mr. Corbin are implemented and kept on track according to the various timelines.

Mr Jagdeo observed that in his view their work should not be conducted in public. However, the public needs to know the results of the discussions. He noted that the work of the two major political parties and other forces within the country should get into the media, but often when that happens too early, other issues arise based on reactions and editorialising. He emphasised that those reactions sometimes harm the negotiating process.