Extraordinary Parliamentary sitting now set for Monday after meeting with Gov’t, Opposition Chief Whips

Government Chief Whip and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira on Wednesday met with Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amanza Walton Desir where the two sides amicably agreed to an Extraordinary Sitting of the National Assembly.

The sitting previously set for Friday will now be held on Monday, November 06 at 10 a.m.

The two sides, in a united front, have agreed to discuss a motion of support for the Government and people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and will reaffirm recognition of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the 1966 Geneva Agreement.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said the Guyana Government and the political opposition remain united in a national approach regarding developments surrounding the border controversy with Venezuela.

Nandlall said notwithstanding the domestic political developments, the two sides will speak from the National Assembly with one voice on the border controversy and the recent actions taken by Venezuela.

The sitting will be held one month before Venezuela holds a referendum to ask its citizens for the creation of a new state, which makes up the territory of Guyana that it claims.

The Guyana government has condemned what it sees as Venezuela’s expansionist ambitions and said the border controversy should be resolved in court as the case is before the International Court of Justice as dictated by the United Nations Secretary General as the means to settle the controversy.

Guyana has since approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking an injunction to prevent Venezuela from taking action through its provocative referendum over Guyana’s territory – Essequibo.

The borders of Guyana and Venezuela were determined by an arbitral tribunal on October 3rd, 1989, and Venezuela inherited 13,000 square kilometers of Guyana’s territory (then under British rule).