Home Letters Did the US change its September 19, 2019 position as to the...
Dear Editor,
It is well known that on September 19, 2019, a joint press statement was issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union which unquestionably declared that the coalition Administration violated the Guyana Constitution by failing to call timely elections.
In its relevant part (see website of the US Embassy, Guyana), it said: “The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union thank the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for devising a proposed elections timeframe for conducting General and Regional Elections.
However, we deeply regret that, by surpassing September 18, the Government is currently in breach of the Constitution following its failure to adhere to the decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on 18 June and its subsequent orders.”
This position was conveyed worldwide by various news agencies including Reuters: “US and European diplomats on Thursday declared Guyana’s Government in breach of the country’s Constitution until new elections are held and called on Guyanese President David Granger to ‘set an elections date immediately’ or possibly face a cutoff of development funding.” See Diplomats declare Guyana Government in breach of Constitution as first oil looms, 9/19/2019.
However, a recent report by NCN (and posted on its Facebook page) is claiming something different. The report claims that the US congressional team that visited Guyana reported that “there was no violation on the part of the coalition Government – after the December 2018 No-Confidence Motion – up until Regional and General Elections was announced.”
It further noted that one member of the congressional delegation stated that the current US Ambassador to Guyana “had assured that there was no breach in the Constitution”.
Did the US change its September 19, 2019, position as to the breach of the Constitution by the coalition Administration?
Sincerely,
Rakesh Rampertab
