Dear Editor,
The Leader of the Opposition Dr Bharat Jagdeo has once again displayed his trademark quality of astuteness and high class political maturity as he made a bold move to avoid not only a constitutional crisis but an economic one in the making as well. As he outlined in his press conference, it is the duty of both the Government and the Opposition to inspire confidence in society in the face of the mounting uncertainties being faced following the passing of the no-confidence motion against the coalition Government. He indicated that strong and mature actions by both parties are essential to remove such insecurities. The populace wants speedy justice!
However, it is quite disappointing to the point of utter disgust that the State-owned newspaper continues to twist the outcome of the no-confidence motion and now the meeting between Jagdeo and Granger to highlight in its front pages that the “Government rejects Jagdeo’s request to withdraw legal challenge to no-confidence vote”. What should be highlighted is the fact that Dr Jagdeo stated that once the Government intends to pursue the course of legal action then both parties must a joint statement requesting the Court to deal with the matter expeditiously since there is a constitutional timeframe given which is 90 days. There is a famous legal maxim which says that “justice delayed is justice denied” and this is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition was referring to. We have seen this being echoed by Guyanese diplomat and academic Sir Ronald Sanders who said that the Courts must act expeditiously since it is a matter of grave national importance and should not take more than a week. He concluded that the political anxiety and tension is not a good thing and the supreme law should not be vilified. The State-media is financed by taxpayers’ dollars and must be in the forefront to ease this type of tension, not to ignite and fuel it. Even in its dying throes this Government is squandering our monies!
Moreover, it would seem that the State resources are now being used against Guyanese who want to preserve the sovereignty of our Constitution. Those resources should be directed towards a speedy resolution of the constitutional questions before the court. The selfish attempts by some members of the coalition Government to brainwash Guyanese and hold them at ransom will only push them further down the precipice of ignominy to the point of no return. In addition, the AFC duo, Nagamootoo and Ramjattan are now expressing hues and cries far above the normal decibel in a final effort to gain some recognition from the PNC. They failed at the recently concluded LGE!
GECOM had signaled just after the passing of the no-confidence motion that they are prepared for an early election within the constitutional time frame. This was according to Public Relations Officer of GECOM, Yolanda Ward who was adamant that, “it is our Constitutional mandate to conduct the General and Regional Elections and the Local Government Elections whenever they are constitutionally due; so whether it is in 90 days then it is GECOM’s responsibility to conduct elections”. This was published in the Guyana Chronicle on December 27, 2018. I wish our ‘fit and proper’, GECOM Chairman a speedy recovery to facilitate the electoral process in 90 days!
Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf
RDC Councillor
Region 6
