Dear Editor,
President Granger imported a Constitution specialist to come to Guyana and teach our children and people that thirty-three is not greater than thirty-two. For the first time in my life, I am hearing that our parliamentarians are made up of fractions. Is it because Granger has enough money to waste, or because Mr Alexis is a bird of the same feather?
Everyone knows that the APNU/AFC assumed power with thirty-three seats as a majority out of sixty-five seats. They were never asked to have thirty-four seats to win the majority and assume power. All along, this country was running by the APNU/AFC with thirty-three seats in Parliament and they approved everything without any question. So a thirty-three-seat majority was good enough for the Government but not good enough for the Opposition? Is the Government saying that they were ruling this country illegally from 2015 until now? What a downright shame and disgrace.
President Granger should have brought in Mr Alexis a long time ago to amend our Constitution, to read that thirty-four seats were required out of sixty-five seats to obtain an absolute majority and then kick the Government out because they never obtained thirty-four seats.
Guyana’s Constitution was designed and approved by Guyana’s parliamentarians in the National Assembly. We do not need any stranger to come here and tell us how to interpret our Constitution.
Mr Alexis’ mathematical formula of a majority is: – sixty-five seats divided by two, equals thirty-two and a half, add one to make the majority, equal thirty-three and a half, round that off upward to the nearest whole number, equals thirty-four. Our Court of Appeal judges used this formula to arrive at their verdict.
Now our Court of Appeal was made up of three judges. Mr Alexis’ formula must now also be applied here, so three judges divided by two, equals one and a half, add one to make the majority, equals two and a half, round that off upward to the next whole number equals three, so according to the formula used, the two judges out of three in the Court of Appeal did not make up the majority. Therefore, the verdict passed, was illegal, and totally bias. Judges in the Court of Appeal should always rule with dignity, and never take sides; they should always take pride in themselves, and respect their position. It is very shameful and a disgrace, when judges do not honour their obligations.
It is also very sad to see our President, who spent so many years in the disciplined service in Guyana, showing very little or no respect for our Constitution, the National Assembly, and our Supreme Court’s rulings. I am hereby asking our President to do the right thing, honour our Constitutions, our National Assembly, and our Supreme Courts. Remember the oath you took and swear to abide with. And always remember that we all have a limited amount of time on this planet, so please help us to make the best use of this time, and not waste any of it.
Respectfully,
Eddie Singh-Lethem
