New GCCI President express worry over local political situation

Newly elected President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Boyer on Monday told a news conference that he is worried about the political uncertainty that exists in Guyana after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Government to on the no-confidence motion which was passed on December 21, 2018.

According to Boyer, he as well as the entire country is in suspense as to what will take place in Guyana should the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) rule that the motion of no-confidence was, in fact, validly passed.
“I do recognise the fact that I am taking up the presidency at a time where there was some uncertainty, there still is some uncertainty because you have the Appeal Court of Guyana handing down a decision which, it’s clear that the Opposition of Guyana did not find favour with. Now clearly they are setting themselves up to head to the CCJ to challenge the decision of the Appeal Court,” he added.
The new Head of the GCCI pointed out that “the curious thing is what happens if the argument that the no-confidence motion was validly passed is upheld and you have passed the constitutional deadline for elections. So now you have a successful decision, it would mean in this probabilistic scenario that the Court of Appeal was wrong and you should have had elections then by March 21 so what happens then in that scenario? Because I don’t have an answer for it”.
Boyer reminded that a recent survey conducted by the Chamber found that the political climate has been bad for business.
The new President also made reference to the Members of Parliament who have dual citizenship, who should be replaced according to Opposition Parliamentarian Juan Edghill.
“I am concerned that if the Opposition starts to raise arguments and does whatever they need to do to try and get the dual citizens out of Parliament that puts us back into a state of uncertainty so my core (concern) here is anything that puts me in a state of uncertainty where I can’t plan easily,” he posited.
Meanwhile, former President of the Chamber, Deodat Indar, who will serve as a past president on the Board, informed that the business community has written to both President Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on the political status of the country.
Indar explained that the letter sought to inform the two leaders that the Chambers is ready to lend support in whatever way it can to improve the current situation, as the main objective is for businesses to have a stable operating environment.
Moments after the Court of Appeal handed down its ruling that on Friday that an absolute majority of 34 votes was needed to carry the motion of no-confidence against the Government, the Opposition said it will be taking the matter up to the CCJ.
The case is expected to be filed in the CCJ later this week.
Following its passage in the National Assembly, Government had subsequently asked the House to reverse the passage of the motion, but its Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland, had declined the request. As such, Government moved to the High Court to challenge the validity of the motion, saying that a 34 majority is needed for it to be successfully passed.
Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George had, in January, upheld the December 21, 2018, passage of the no-confidence motion, ruling that in Guyana’s 65-member National Assembly, a majority is 33. This, however, was appealed by Attorney General Basil Williams.
While Justice Rishi Persaud on Friday dismissed the appeal and conferred with the ruling of the High Court, his colleague appellate judges allowed the State’s appeal. Both Justices Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Dawn Gregory opined that while 33 is the majority of the 65-member National Assembly, the successful passage of a no-confidence motion requires an “absolute majority” of 34, and not the “simple” majority of 33 that has been used to pass ordinary business in the House.