Dear Editor,
The Opposition’s chief whip the Honourable Gail Teixieira filed a motion in the house asking that the acting President of the Republic of Guyana, Mr Moses Nagamootoo vacate his place in The National Assembly as Head of Government. It is a legally binding motion as stipulated in Article 178 (4) of the constitution which states; once a member (who must be an elected member of The National Assembly) of the cabinet is appointed to perform the functions of the office of President, then that Minister’s seat in The National Assembly shall be regarded as vacant. In this regard he is considered an illegal person in The House.
Now Nagamootoo, who is supposed to be a lawyer ought to know that his continued presence in Parliament constitutes an illegality and that everything done by him is equally illegal. Presently, he is a squatter as asserted by the Opposition Leader, but Nagamootoo persists because that is the nature of this power-hungry despot. In fact, it is his rabid obsession with power that caused him to leave the PPP and later join ranks with the PNC so that he could one day become “President” of Guyana, a right he loosely says, was denied him by Jagdeo.
I would advise that he takes his cue from Volda Lawrence or others of the powerhouse in the PNC. So, my advice to this gentleman is to tread softly, very softly on the issue of leadership. Because if he thinks that he could so easily hold power in a PNC Government then he needs to think again, that is not going to happen. That headship thinking of his is a definite impossibility.
So all this talk about the Speaker having to make a decision on the issue is hogwash! There is nothing in that article where it says a speaker has to make a ruling, it is not left to the whims and fancies of a speaker to decide on the issue. That matter is already spelt out in the Constitution in crystal clear language. It all goes to show that this coalition of parties in Government is not going to adhere to the rule of law, which is a very disgraceful precedent set since coming to Office. It has become an all too familiar sight with this Administration where illegal acts of governance are concerned, and I call for this nonsense to stop now!
What Mr Nagamootoo can do, and the constitution makes provision for this, is to appoint someone to sit in his place in Parliament while he goes on to function as President – a very simple and clear position. But like I said earlier this man is so obsessed with power that he is prepared to do the double role and to do so illegally, quite to the detriment of democracy and good governance in this country.
Finally, I use a line from the Merrymen’s song “enjoy yourself it’s later than you think.” The people of Guyana are watching and are taking keen notes of your shenanigans, soon and very soon you and your Government will be taken apart by the people you so willfully and spitefully rule. They have shown it in that 63 per cent drubbing you got in the last Local Government Elections (LGE). So come 2020 the final chapter will be written.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
