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The outcome of the no-confidence motion

Dec 23, 2018 News

 

On Friday, the nation ground to a halt as it awaited the outcome of the “no confidence vote” in Parliament; a vote piloted by the opposition. It was the belief of many that the PPP motion was doomed to failure given the parliamentary minority.
Buoyed by its huge victory in the recent Local Government Elections (LGE), it seemed that the PPP was in a mad rush to wrest back power from the three-year-old Coalition Government.
The PPP was hoping that a frustrated member of the Coalition would either be absent from Parliament or abstain from voting.
The timing was intended to allow the opposition to capitalize on President Granger not being able to resume the presidency after he was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and that the Prime Minister would not be allowed to serve in the National Assembly while performing the duties of President of Guyana.
But this would not have been enough because a tie in the number of votes would have condemned the motion to failure. There is now no need for speculation. The motion was carried and the government must call elections within ninety days.
It was drama in Parliament as the high stakes gamble by the PPP paid off when the APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP) voted for the opposition motion of no-confidence. The vote, which came at the end of eight hours of acrimonious debate, would require the formal resignation of the President and the Cabinet and necessitate a new general elections.
The vote by MP Charrandass Persaud, an attorney and a member of the AFC wing in the Coalition stunned Parliament and startled government MPs, many of whom were confused. The vote brought the Parliamentary proceedings to an abrupt end as many senior members of the Coalition Government attempted to have Persaud change his vote. They were unsuccessful. As the Speaker restarted the recount of the names, Persaud repeated his support for the motion at least three times.
The defeat of the government in the no-confident motion underlines the weakness of minority governments or those with a one-seat majority like the current Coalition Government. It came at a time when President Granger and the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission are both ill.
The stunning defeat left APNU+AFC supporters dressed in coalition colours with placards highlighting the achievements of the government in front of the Parliament building in tears. However, they are confident that the Coalition will return to power whenever an election is held.
With the production of oil scheduled for 2020, the passing of the no-confident motion was a bitter outcome for the government.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and APNU+AFC Chief-whip, Amna Ally had boldly predicted that no APNU+AFC MP would support the no-confident motion against the government. They were wrong. Even though the government has taken the motion very seriously, there was great uncertainty as to whether it would survive it. The defeat of the government by a no-confidence vote is a first for Guyana.
But it highlights the frailty of coalition governments. They have always been known to collapse. If one side disagrees with the other, one party simply removes itself from the coalition and force an election. There is no firm bond as one would find inside a political party.
What happened on Friday could happen again if there is another coalition largely because coalitions simply do not monitor individual members. Indeed, sanctions may follow the action of the member but coming after the government falls is of no consequence to either the errant voter or the party.
Friday’s vote was a classic example.

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