The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday upheld the constitutionality of Guyana’s presidential term limit and definitively closed the door on the possibility of a run for a third term by former president and current opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
Overturning the decisions of the local High Court and the Appeal Court by a majority decision of 6 to 1, the Trinidad-based final court ruled that amendments effected to the Constitution prohibiting a president from serving more than two terms had been validly enacted.
“It was clear from the history of the amendments that they did not emerge from the desire of any political party to manipulate the candidacy for the presidency according to its agenda,” the court said in its ruling.
It added that democratic governance allows for, and indeed requires, reasonable restrictions to be placed on the qualifications to be a member of the National Assembly and hence also to be president.
