AN ERRONEOUS PREMISE

Feb 03, 2019 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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“The Government of Guyana notes and respects the rulings of the Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George handed down on January 31st, 2019.
The ruling is not in favour of the Government’s position with regard to the vote on December 21st 2018, however, due process continues and the Government will file an appeal in the Court of Appeal. The government continues to believe that the full adjudication of this issue is in the national interest.
Until the matter is concluded at the highest court, the status quo remains and the business of government continues as usual. The government reassures the Guyanese people that it will continue to act in accordance with the constitution of Guyana.”

This statement issued by the Ministry of the Presidency represents the position of the entire Coalition. While we respect the ruling handed down by the Chief Justice, we will pursue the longstanding path of a three-stage legal process. On Thursday Minister Ramjattan said, “(The Government has) every right to access (every legal stage) up to the final court, namely the Caribbean Court of Justice before both parties can settle on this matter”. This was the first round.
But before moving to the CCJ, the government will make its application in the Guyana Court of Appeal and we will be asking for “expeditiousness” in the hearing of this case.
There is a narrative being promoted by the political opposition that the Government was defeated by the vote of no confidence in Parliament on 21st December, but in fact, this is an erroneous premise. Our understanding is that the process is hierarchical – the High Court is the first; the next step is the Appeals Court, then the CCJ makes the final decision.
According to the Attorney General, we are following precedence. He has filed against the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, asking the court to rule on several issues:
(i) Whether the Speaker’s Ruling on the motion debated in the National Assembly on December 21 was carried by a vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly was unlawful, null and void being contrary to Article 106 (6) of the Constitution of Guyana and;
(ii) Whether the requisite majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly ought to be 34 votes
During her ruling, the acting Chief Justice explained that while there is need for an absolute majority vote in the National Assembly, the 33 votes in the 65-member Parliament would, in her opinion, constitute that majority.
However, the Government disagrees with this position. We contend that an ‘absolute majority’ is required, since it has more strength than the simple majority. Guyana’s Parliament consists of the odd number of 65 seats. Precedent cases have shown that when you have an odd number in the Parliament, to arrive at a majority, you must divide it in half, and add one.
When you divide 65 by half you get a fraction and since there is no half human, you should round out the fraction to the next whole number. The former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Sir Dennis Byron, reiterated this position that in cases of absolute and simple majorities, the absolute majority “is stronger than the simple majority”.
Therefore, the APNU+AFC government is confident that we have a strong case to move forward to Stage 2.
Our position is supported by precedence, i.e. when citizen Cedric Richardson filed a case proposing a third term for former President Jagdeo. It went to the Court of Appeal then to the CCJ where the final decision supported APNU’s objection to the third term proposition. We succeeded in preventing Bharrat Jagdeo from returning to the presidency for a third term which he as President had placed his signature on.
So, to citizens of Guyana, your Government intends to take this matter all the way to the final court. As the Attorney General said, “Nothing is over until the CCJ makes the final determination”.
Government wishes to have this matter resolved as early as possible. It is very important that the peace and stability that this Government brought back to Guyana after the chaos of the past two decades is maintained. It is important that the economy and society do not grind to a halt, which is why we have applied for a stay of the order, i.e. the constitutional requirement that the Cabinet must resign.
Provided that the stay is granted, this Government will continue to guide this nation towards prosperity by:-
 Continuing the many infrastructural works including installing and maintaining public lighting
 Looking after the welfare of our vulnerable citizens, especially children
 Improving public security and ensuring that crime statistics continue to fall
 Installing the necessary equipment and conducting citizen education for their own protection while online (cyber security)
 Continuing the numerous programmes that are improving our education systems which are already proving that our children are performing better in school
 Fixing the healthcare systems and institutions throughout the country
 Further improving the doing-business processes for the benefit of both local and foreign investors
 Improving essential services, especially water, electricity and Internet connectivity
 Encouraging citizens to start up small businesses to earn money for themselves
 Protecting our nation from countries like Venezuela that prevented us in the past from developing our own natural resources such as oil, and are now attempting to bully us in order to steal our land and maritime territory
 Protecting our young citizens from being trafficked to the hinterland and out of the country
Guyana is a safer country today, thanks to this Government. We must continue to develop so that every single citizen can benefit from the revenue that will soon begin to come in from the sale of oil.

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