Play by the Rules

Dec 28, 2018 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, has correctly ruled that the no-confidence motion against the government was passed by virtue of the vote which took place on Friday December 21, 2018 in Guyana’s National Assembly.
Article 106(6) of the Constitution is very clear on the implications of that motion. Once a motion of no-confidence is passed by a vote of the majority of the elected members of the National Assembly, the Cabinet, including the President, must resign and elections held within three months, subject to such a longer period as may be determined by the National Assembly. In other words, the government falls.
There has since been an attempt to suggest that the no-confidence motion was not properly carried because – in the reasoning of Nigel Hughes – thirty four votes, instead of 33 are needed for a majority. Not only is this proposition by the learned member of the Bar, Nigel Hughes, illogical, but it also defies basic common sense.
In its ordinary meaning, a majority vote means one over all its rivals combined. This fact was quoted in the judgment Kilman v Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Vanuatu, one of the sources which Hughes relies upon. Thus, 33 votes as against 32 constitute a majority in cases in which there are 65 (an odd number) of parliamentarians.
It is basic common sense that if there is an odd number of parliamentarians, then one over all others combined constitutes a majority. On the other hand, where there is an even number of parliamentarians, then a majority is half plus one,
For example, if there are 65 objects in a can, a majority is 33 – one over all others combined. If, however, there were 64 objects, a majority would be half (32) plus one, which is 33. This is simple mathematics and basic common sense.
In the case referenced by learned counsel Hughes, the National Assembly of the Republic Vanuatu had 52 members, including the Speaker who is not precluded from voting. In that instance, there was an even number of persons eligible to vote and, as such, a majority means half plus one which would be half of 52 or 26 plus one.
In Guyana, the Speaker is not an elected member and therefore, in the context of Article 106, cannot vote since the article speaks only to the elected members. As such, there were 65 possible voting members (an odd number) . 33 votes in that case would qualify as a majority – one over all the others combined.
There is a sound reason why the number of parliamentarians in Guyana’s National Assembly is an odd number. It is to prevent the deadlock such as what occurred in Trinidad and Tobago years ago when there was an 18-18 tie and not even a Speaker could be elected. An odd number allows for the majority to be one greater than all others combined. 33 votes constitute a majority of 65.
The motion of no-confidence against the Guyana Government was “fit and prappa”. Having determined that 33 members voted in favour of the no-confidence motion and 32 against, the Speaker of the National Assembly correctly deemed the motion to have been carried.
It was not the first time and it will not be the last time in legislative history that a one-vote majority has unseated a government. In 1979, Prime Minister James Callaghan was forced to resign after the British Parliament voted 311 to 310 (a one vote majority) in favour of a no-confidence motion against his government.
The Guyana no-confidence vote has implications for the government. The Cabinet has to resign but the government remains in office until a new one is elected following elections.
The Cabinet meeting of December 24, 2018 – images of which were published in the media – should therefore have only been for one purpose: to allow for the formal resignation of the Cabinet in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution.
There is no need therefore for any other Cabinet meeting. It stands dissolved.
The government must play by the rules. It agreed to abide by the no-confidence motion. It should uphold the Constitution and call elections within three months.

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