The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Friday handed down consequential orders stipulating that the Cabinet must resign and call fresh elections within three months of its June 18, 2019 ruling that the No-Confidence Motion, brought by the Leader of the Opposition against APNU/AFC Government, was validly passed.
While the Court stayed away from setting specific dates, President Justice Adrian Saunders emphasised that the key players, such as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the President, and by extension the Government, are obligated to “exercise their responsibilities with integrity”. In its ruling, the CCJ made it clear that since the passage of the No-Confidence Motion against the Government on December 21, 2018, the Government should have complied with the provisions of the Constitution, i.e., to resign and call elections. This meant that general elections should have already been held by March 21, 2019; unless there was an extension by two-thirds of the elected members of the National Assembly.
As was stated by Justice Saunders— and we repeat for emphasis sake— the Constitution is clear as to the actions that must be followed after a no-confidence vote. Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states: “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”.
With the Government’s defeat, the next steps in Clause 7 of Article 106 goes on to state that “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by no less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election”.
It is well known that the Government did not follow these provisions. Instead, there were a series of actions in the Courts which brought the matters surrounding the NCM to a pause. However, Justice Saunders made it clear that this was no longer the case as of June 18, 2019 – when the CCJ declared that the No-Confidence Motion was indeed validly passed. From that period, according to the CCJ, “the tenure of Government in office is on a different footing”, meaning by convention, the Government is expected to behave as a “caretaker”.
However, over the past few weeks, we have seen the Government in full defiant mode. For example, the Minister of Finance is pushing ahead with planning the next national budget, ministers are signing major contracts/ agreements, ministers are proposing to amend and introduce new legislation and a host of other acts which are outside of the normal practices of a Government which should have been in a “caretaker” mode.
Certainly, the status quo cannot remain as per normal and the business of the Government cannot continue as if nothing happened. The fact remains that the Government was defeated in a confidence vote and, therefore, does not have the same power it enjoyed prior to the vote being passed. If it wants to carry on as a full-fledged Government, it must get a renewed mandate from the electorate.
So far, the nation has witnessed several attempts by the Government to delay going to the polls. No doubt, in its fight to hold firm to political power, the APNU/AFC coalition has lost credibility and support.
We also have taken note of the APNU/AFC officials and the Government-nominated GECOM Commissioners advancing their case for House-to-House registration in order to arrive at a new voters list. This, we are convinced, is unnecessary at this point in time. As stated by many stakeholders, there are certain steps that could be taken to cleanse the list, i.e., to ensure that those who have died or migrated are taken off the list and those who would have reached the age to vote are registered and allowed to vote. This could be done within the shortest possible time which would then allow GECOM to be in a position to run-off elections within three months.
We have also taken note of the attempts by certain individuals to frustrate the process to name a GECOM Chairperson. What could have been a simple, straightforward process to bring the matter to finalisation is now being dragged out unnecessarily.
We believe that in order to find a solution to the current political crisis, there is need for a great deal of maturity from our political leaders, starting with the leader of the APNU/AFC coalition, David Granger, to abide by the Constitution which he swore to uphold when he took the reins of power back in March 2015.
The CCJ rulings and subsequent consequential orders are clear. It is now up to the key players, mainly the Government, to show that they are serious about abiding the Court’s ruling and the Constitution in general.
