Insisting that elections have to be held by March 21st, PPP general Secre-tary Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday called on the government to comply with the constitution in keeping with the ruling by the Chief Justice upholding the validity of the no-confidence vote passed against it.
Jagdeo, who is opposition leader, appeared to shut the door on negotiating an extension with the government, which he said has not made any serious moves towards facilitating elections preparations. As a result, he maintained that he will not hold any further talks with government unless President David Granger publicly accepts the recent ruling and announces a date for the polls.
“If the president announced the elections and the date for the elections within the constitutional period, I think that’s ground to meet. We are not getting caught up again with [the] PR stunt by DPI and the government,” Jagdeo told a press conference yesterday after being asked whether he is inclined to meet again with the president.
Jagdeo led an opposition team to a meeting with Granger last month. Based on what was subsequently revealed, much was not achieved as Granger insisted the government is lawfully engaging the court and until the conclusion of the legal proceedings, parliament will remains functional and the government’s work would continue as normal.
Government, through Attorney-General Basil Williams, has already expressed its dissatisfaction with the rulings made by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire SC and has informed that appeals will be filed in the coming days. Government has said too that there is every likelihood that the matter will find its way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which is Guyana’s final appeal court.
The judge on Thursday found that the passage of the December 21st no-confidence was valid and that this should have triggered the immediate resignation of the Cabinet, including the President, in accordance with Article 106 (6) of the constitution.
Article 106 (6) states that “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”
The government said after the ruling that it continues to believe that the full adjudication of the issue is in the national interest. “Until the matter is concluded at the highest court of appeal the status quo remains and the business of government continues as usual. The government reassures the Guyanese people that it will continue to act in accordance with the constitution of Guyana,” it said in a subsequent statement.
‘Delusional’
Jagdeo yesterday expressed his satisfaction with the court’s findings and he said it is the time for elections to be held. He further stated that the court proceedings are nothing more than a “delay tactic” and he called on government to abide by the constitution. He added that the PPP expects the president to make an announcement that he respects the constitution and immediately start the process for elections. To delay the process further, he contended, will show “gross disrespect” for the constitution. “Right now, there is a valid decision of the court that the government has fallen and elections have to be held within 90 days…They [government] seem hell-bent on delaying these elections. Clearly government does not respect the order of the court,” he further said.
“It cannot be business as usual. They are delusional,” he added, before later noting that the opposition party is considering filing legal action to compel the Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) to hold elections. He said the party will also be pursuing protest action against the government and GECOM. He did not say what form this action will take and how soon it will start.
While Article 106 (7) provides for the National Assembly, by a resolution of two-thirds of all elected members, to extend the three-month deadline for the holding of the polls set out in Article 106(6).
“We have not decided that there should be any extension of the life of the government or National Assembly,” Jagdeo said, while noting that the opposition is still working with the March deadline.
Several weeks ago he had said that he would willing to return to parliament to support the extension of the elections date by a few weeks if needed. He said then that the deadline could not be extended beyond April 30th, which is the date that the current voters’ list expires.
“If we had seen a serious move on the part of the government to respect our constitution and to be helpful in the preparations for elections and there is a requirement to extend the life of parliament for a short while, then we could have been reasonable but right now they think we are extremely stupid… and then March 19th, they will come to us and say ‘The time has gone. Can we extend a little bit long?’ We gotta be extremely stupid for that. We have defined what will happen in the country after that period and in any case you can’t reverse what the Chief Justice said…,” he added.
Jagdeo called on government to respect the constitution and said that the ruling takes away “any excuse” that could be used to delay the elections.
The motion in the name of Jagdeo was declared passed by Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland following a surprise vote from now former government Member of Parliament (MP) Charrandass Persaud. Government had initially accepted the passage of the motion but later did an about face, claiming that the Persaud’s vote was invalid given that he is a Canadian citizen and that the motion needed 34 votes and not 33 to succeed. Following its failure to get Scotland to reverse his decision, government moved to the court.
Three separate actions were filed – one by Attorney General Williams, one by private citizen Compton Reid, and the third by chartered accountant Christopher Ram. During her rulings, which were read one after the other over a four-hour period on Thursday afternoon, the judge ruled that Persaud’s voted was valid despite him unlawfully occupying a seat in the National Assembly, that the majority needed to pass the motion was 33 of the 65 elected members and that Cabinet should have resigned immediately after the passage.
