Bring on the elections!

Dear Editor,

As I reflect on the No Confidence Vote (NCV) of December 2018 and the aftermath, I see no winners, only losers, with the biggest losers being the Guyanese people. They have been burdened unnecessarily with huge costs for the challenges and appeals through the judicial system, and, in particular, the exorbitant legal fees of private sector lawyers for both the government and the other parties involved in the proceedings, as awarded by the courts. More importantly, I believe that the political divide, which is largely race-based, has been greatly exacerbated and will continue for decades.

With the NCV, the government’s position was exposed as lacking commonsense and without merit. Not only did it lose this case at the final court of appeal, but suffered a further defeat when its position on the appointment of Justice Patterson as Chairman of GECOM was ruled unconstitutional. Now the ambassadors of the US and the EU, together with the High Commissioner of the UK, have publicly stated “… the Government is currently in breach of the Constitution following its failure to adhere to the decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on 18 June and its subsequent orders.”

President Granger has consistently claimed that his decisions were based on legal advice from the Attorney General (AG). It is now clear that the legal advice in each case was flawed. In particular, the AG’s position that 34 instead of 33 constitute the majority in a legislature of 65 seats has been viewed with derision in Guyana and beyond. Should APNU return to government after the next election, whenever it is held, President Granger may have difficulty justifying the retention of the current incumbent as the AG.

As for the leader of the opposition who had expected the general election in March 2019 as a consequence of the NCV, it is now six months past that timeframe and no election date is in sight. The decision of the final court of appeal, as far as the government is concerned, is open to interpretation and allows it to continue in office though with a restricted mandate. Despite clamouring from the leader of the opposition for the president to set the date of the election and for him and his ministers to resign, government has not acceded and continues with business as usual.

While Mr Jagdeo may appear to be crying in the wilderness, government’s determination to hold on to power (which many who previously supported the government now believe to be in contravention of the Constitution) may be strengthening the PPP, Mr Jagdeo’s party, at the expense of the AFC, the junior partner in the government’s coalition. It is interesting to note that the pre-NCV bravado “bring it on” of the prime minister and members of the government has been replaced by tactics to delay the election for as long as possible.

A close look at the situation since the NCV shows the speaker of the legislature passing the buck to the courts, which passed the buck to President Granger, who, in turn, passed the buck to the new Chair of GECOM, retired Justice Madam Claudette Singh. She is required to be a female Solomon, endowed with wisdom which these other mortals did not possess. So like a headmistress of the old days, she has now disciplined the six recalcitrant GECOM members, whipped the Secretariat into shape, and advised the president that “credible” elections can be held by the end of February 2020. The ball is now in President Granger’s court to “bring it on.”

Yours faithfully,

Harry Hergash