No need for President to face media – Harmon

It has been well over a year since the President of Guyana last hosted a press conference and according to Minister of State Joseph Harmon, an appropriate time will be announced for an event.
During a post-Cabinet press briefing on Friday, Harmon said President David Granger would announce a press conference at the appropriate time. He urged the public to disabuse themselves of the belief that the President was deliberately avoiding the media.
“Disabuse your mind of that idea, that the President has any issue with respect to meeting the media. I believe in the nature of a press conference, as we are having here, the President will be able to deal with that question.”
“As you are aware, you have had access to His Excellency whenever there is an occasion, when the media approaches him and he deals with the questions that you have. And I believe in a very fulsome manner.”
Harmon said if the media wanted more substantive interactions, the President is the one “in charge of that agenda” and would set one at an appropriate time. In the interim, the Minister said, the post-Cabinet press conferences he hosts would have to do, in order to inform the nation of the government’s policy positions.
However, Harmon was reminded of events of national importance which had unfolded without the President holding a press conference. These events, which would certainly be deemed the appropriate time by many, included the recent prison break and fire that gutted the Camp Street Prison.
“I understand your concern about (the President) meeting with the media, but every single week the President meets with the security personnel in the country. And in between that, he is briefed on a daily basis by agencies that have responsibility for matters within the public domain.”
“So I wouldn’t want to go beyond that and say the President needs to meet with the media to demonstrate that he is capable of leading this country. I think that the President is the leader of this country, he’s our Commander-in-Chief and he is exercising those functions in a manner that is consistent with national security and in the best interest of the people,” he said.
According to Harmon, he would once again intercede with President Granger to meet with the media at a press conference.
Since his ascension to the presidency, Granger has relied on a weekly televised show known as ‘The Public Interest’ to give journalists an opportunity to interview him on national matters.
President Granger had promised to meet with local media operatives when he returned from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government Summit in July.
Opposition Leader and former President Bharrat Jagdeo has repeatedly called on the President to engage the media, especially as he could best provide clarity on various issues. Noting that presidential press briefings are a fundamental part of democracy, he had repeated this call in a recent interview.
The Guyana Press Association (GPA) had also called on the President to host press conferences to answer questions about his Government’s policies and programmes.
The GPA had acknowledged that the President was not averse to speaking with the media on the sidelines of public events or during his “Public Interest” televised programme; however, the Association had expressed the belief that accountability to the Guyanese people would be best served through press conferences.