APNU dismisses calls for early general elections

Oct 13, 2013 News

…no intention to bring no confidence motion against Govt. – Granger

Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger, says that his party has no intention of tabling a ‘no confidence motion’ against the Government in Parliament thereby forcing General Elections.

Opposition Leader, David Granger

Granger made the disclosure this past week while responding to an earlier position voiced by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon. Dr. Luncheon had said that the government would call elections before any such motion could be debated in Parliament.
According to Granger, the only elections that APNU is preparing for is the Local Government Elections.
He said that he did not believe that the statement uttered by Dr. Luncheon represented a serious government policy to pursue elections ahead of the 2016 deadline.
“Dr. Luncheon is on a fishing expedition…He is just fishing for a response,” said Granger.
He said that Dr. Luncheon was probably seeking to put the idea of a return to the polls in public domain, to see if there is a favorable response.
According to Granger, APNU is not worried that this constitutes an intention on part of government to proceed with early General Elections.
Granger said that APNU is more focused on, and is committed to local government elections.
He said that it would be a serious error in judgment to go to national elections without going to Local Government Elections.
APNU is preparing for that election, according to Granger, who said that the party is looking forward to the President’s assent to the four pieces of legislation.
He said too that the party is concerned that after eight weeks, there has been no assent and as such he wonders if there is an ulterior motive on the part of the President.
Granger suggested that it is either the President does not intend to assent to the Bills or that there is a deliberate ploy to delay the holding of the elections.
“There is no intention now to bring a vote of no confidence…On the matters before us now we don’t have any plan to bring a motion of no confidence against the government.”
During his post-Cabinet press briefing this week, Dr. Luncheon said that he believes that a return to General Elections is the only way to solve the impasse afflicting Guyana’s Parliament for the last two years.
“I strongly believe that what has occurred over the first two years of the tenth Parliament, particularly in Parliament, may not be a phenomenon that could be resolved any other way than by General Elections.”
Dr. Luncheon said that the President has made his position public, in that there exist two options, “I (Donald Ramotar) do it, or they do it.”
Asked to respond to the possibility of the political opposition moving to Parliament to execute a vote of no confidence in the government forcing an election, Dr. Luncheon stressed that the ruling party has never resorted to an election held under threat.