Cabinet still meeting

Government is going ahead with its scheduled Cabinet meeting today despite a constitutional requirement that says the Cabinet inclusive of the President must resign following the passage of a no-confidence motion.

Such a motion was approved on December 21st following a crucial vote by then government parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud, who supported the opposition-led motion. Since the passage of the motion, Cabinet has met as per normal, this newspaper was told.

Government, which initially indicated that it would abide by the constitutional provisions after the motion was approved by a vote of 33 to 32, has since challenged the outcome, saying that 34 votes were needed and that Persaud was ineligible to vote as a member of the National Assembly. It has since moved to the court to settle questions about the legality of the approval of the motion as well as for orders to set aside its enforcement and to allow the administration to remain in office.