The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled in two of the most important constitutional cases that have engaged its attention in its ten-year history. The cases from Guyana have their origins in Guyana’s troubled political history and struggle for ethno-political dominance. In the first case, the CCJ decided that the appointment by President David Granger of the Chair of the Elections Commission on October 19, 2017, violated the Constitution. In the second case, it decided that the no-confidence motion passed in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, in a 33 to 32 vote, was lawful and valid.
President Granger declared that the Government accepted the decision but insisted that the appointment of the Chair of GECOM was not flawed, and if it was, the CCJ must let him know what the flaw is. The CCJ had already noted that President did not reveal what were the flaws in the 18 names presented to him by the Leader of the Opposition for appointment as Chair of the Elections Commission. In any event, courts do not respond to political interrogation, and it is the job of the Attorney General to advise His Excellency.
The President’s undertaking to abide by the CCJ’s decision, even though he disagrees with it, is premised on house-to-house registration, which will not end until November. Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo demanded elections in three months. Finance Minister Winston Jordan was more direct during a government visit to Bartica: “CCJ or no CCJ, they can’t tell us that we must tinker with that list to call elections…..From today, war break……no registration, no election.” Minister Dawn Hastings-Williams said “the CCJ cannot rule.”
