Insisting that the December 21 no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government was validly passed, the opposition PPP last evening dismissed the resort to the judiciary to challenge the results, contending that the courts have no jurisdiction and the Constitution protects the vote.
“We maintain that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed and the Speaker’s ruling that (it) was so passed, accompanied by the Clerk’s affirmation, cannot be enquired into or interfered with, by the Judiciary. Moreover, the Judiciary has no jurisdiction to violate or extend any timeframe prescribed by the Constitution, since the Constitution is supreme and the Judiciary is subject to the Constitution, not vice versa,” the PPP said in a press release yesterday.
Private citizen Compton Reid filed proceedings in the High Court yesterday challenging the no-confidence motion. Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, who hears constitutional matters, is expected to set a date for hearing sometime next week. Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Barton Scotland on Thursday refused to reverse his recognition of the December 21 no-confidence motion which passed following a `yes’ vote from former government MP Charrandas Persaud. Government subsequently indicated an intention to move to the courts and said they are prepared to take the matter all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
