By: sase Singh MSc – Finance, ACCA
Louis IX of France was renowned for the evenhanded manner in which he dispensed justice. King Solomon was also supposed to have done a pretty good job at dispensing justice. What I saw on Globespan24x7 TV on June 18, 2019 vindicated my position that the Caribbean has honourable people at the CCJ, who fulfil this tradition of justice with integrity.
Those learned minds at the CCJ used the drafting history of Guyana to break down extremely complex issues into simple statements of fact. This entire event brought power to the spirit of the Constitution. We Caribbean people must be proud that we have among us a group of learned minds at the CCJ, who are prepared to do the right thing even in an environment populated with so much political pressure.
In his written piece, called ‘Politics’, Aristotle stated, “rightly constituted laws should be the final sovereign”. These men and one woman ensured that the Guyana Constitution remained enshrined as our final sovereign document in an environment wherein legal charlatans were trying to vary its soul. By tracing how the Constitution has evolved from the Independence Constitution to the 1980 Constitution, and then to the Constitutional Reform Process as enacted in 2001, we, the lesser learned minds, were educated by the learned Judges at the CCJ as to why certain insertions and deletions were made to the Constitution at each juncture of its evolution.
What was absolutely clear from that historical journey is that, during the 1999-2001 period, all the stakeholders in the Constitutional Reform Process, especially the PNC and PPP, wanted Article 106. One clear recommendation suggested from that process was that the rights of the Presidency must be amended to dilute the dictatorial powers it had in the 1980 version. The framers of that amendment to the Constitution had focused on reducing the terms in office of a President to only two; but, at the same time, they clearly elucidated in the drafting notes that if a majority of the National Assembly votes in favour of a “motion of no-confidence” against the President and the Cabinet, then the latter shall resign, which in law means they must resign. The operative word is the “majority”, which the CCJ has now defined as 33 elected MPs
It was never the intention of the framers of the Constitutional amendments in 2001 to manipulate the meaning of the word “majority”, as one OIL MAGNATE LAWYER attempted to do as a means to an end in 2019. Their intentions were always that a mathematical majority of 65 can vote the Government out. And what is that majority? Did we need to spent G$70 million and counting on legal fees to find the answer to this question? Any Common Entrance student could have accurately provided the answer.
So, in the eyes of the law, the Granger Government fell on December 21, 2018, and they had until March 20, 2019 to conclude their business. All political parties who are interested in forming the next Government of Guyana had ample time to get their houses, cups or palm trees in order, so they could present their programmes and policies to the people and leave the rest up to the voters. But what we saw since that fateful December night was, instead, political deception and delusional legal arguments from the Attorney General’s Team. We saw how personal political tactics were, in a prejudiced manner, inserted into a situation, which resulted in our democracy being undermined. Today, we are the laughing stock of the democratic Caribbean because of these actions. No right-minded, democratically elected leader would take Mr Granger seriously as he journeys along this path of noncompliance with the principles of democracy.
The CCJ has taken Guyana as closely as possible to perfection in the art of judicial decision-making. With “reasoned positions” in the interpretation of the intent of the Constitution, these men and one woman were able to give it to us straight. But, even better, they provided Mr. Granger with a happy exit; yet, as we are seeing today, Mr Granger will have none of it, as he continues to be the Millie Vanilli of Guyanese politics. All we are getting from Mr. Granger is double speak and lip service to the decision.
He is quoted in the press as saying, “I accept, but we shall not have elections…” From Bartica, he declared to the press that he “cannot proceed with the current list of voters”, and he now “awaits a recommendation from GECOM”, whose Chairman was imposed by a flawed process. Only then, after consulting with this illegitimate Chairman, will Mr. Granger issue “a proclamation”. This goes against the grain of the letter and spirit of the CCJ decision.
It is in this regard that I am urging former President Bharat Jagdeo to place his trust in the CCJ, and ignore this illegitimate regime.
