Dear Editor,
Recently, a type of political and legislative events has piercingly inundated the democratic environment of Guyana, a member of the Caricom Community and the Commonwealth group of countries.
The activities emerged from the necessary representation and efforts by the political Opposition – particularly Bharrat Jagdeo, against the perceived and obvious constitutional breaches – to free our citizens from the burgeoning choke invoked by the APNU/AFC Government since 2015.
The surreptitious cheating architects of the APNU/AFC’s main party, the PNC/R, have reacted to the people’s rebuff by utilising widely undemocratic manoeuvers in an effort to clutch on to power.
The situation realises numerous unwanted threats and results in broader implications not only for Guyana’s internal and external relationships, but also for the region at large.
In fact, with the matter brought before the fledging for recognition Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the region’s premier Judicial institution itself is placed on trial, albeit acceptance or rejection of its rulings by other regional members.
There is no doubt that there is significant regional focus and interests in this regard, evidenced by the increasing volumes of commentary on the matter emerging from non-Guyanese observers.
The crux of the matter is to establish in the context of the Guyana Constitution, whether 33 votes obtained by the Opposition in the December 21, 2018, No-Confidence Motion (NCM), is sufficiently greater than the 32 obtained by the APNU/AFC Government to be carried.
This is given that the Leader of the Opposition duly followed the prescribed constitutionally approved approach, which the Speaker of Legislature pronounced as carried, as well as the Chief Justice of Guyana’s High Court.
Conflictingly, the ruling varied by two of three Judges of the Guyana Court of Appeal, making our Judiciary the laughing stock in the Commonwealth judicial frame.
Understandably, the potential treatment by one of its core institutions would have informed of the apprehensive silence of the Caricom Secretary-General on this another significant disruptive regional impediment.
Notwithstanding, the CCJ has certainly signalled a very keen intent to see that justice prevails, given the prioritisation of this important NCM case, and other related matters. President Adrian Saunders recently said that the CCJ would consolidate the three extremely important cases and treat them as urgent while identifying May 9 and 10, 2019, for the hearings.
The response by the CCJ is acceptably intuitive although it is obvious that the Guyana Opposition would have preferred an earlier date given the deliberate internal delays by the Guyana Elections Commission. Related also, is the fact that the Opposition premised the NCM on the increasing sufferings of the citizens due to the APNU/AFC Government’s breach of contract to the people; incessantly perpetuated fraud by its officials, wanton uncontrolled crime and the continued irreparable damage of the economy, for which the Constitution provides a halting mechanism. Concurrently, there has been clear democratic statements of rejection by an overwhelming majority of citizens, over the two Local Government Elections held since 2015.
The hybrid suppression of Guyana by the PNC/R and the imbalanced GECOM Commission orchestrated by President Granger’s unilateral appointment of the openly biased Chairman James Patterson has no place in our democracy and must never be allowed to have a grounding.
In fact, no amount of ‘political manoeuvrings’ and procrastination by Vincent Alexander and his two PNC Guyana Election Commissioners must be allowed to keep this Illegal APNU/AFC regime in Government.
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar