Ministerial Plenary shows contempt for High Court ruling - FITUG

Ministerial Plenary shows contempt for High Court ruling – FITUG

Feb 19, 2019 News

The High Court was pellucid in its ruling that upon the passage of a No-Confidence Motion, Cabinet ceases to exist. With this as its premise, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) said in a missive to the media yesterday, that the Government’s holding of a “Ministerial Plenary”, which carries all the powers of Cabinet, can be considered a sign of contempt for the High Court’s ruling.
FITUG’s statement to the press in this regard, comes on the heels of comments by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon last week, that the government was hosting plenary sessions with the Head of State, during which Bills were considered and the award of contracts noted. Harmon had explained that the Plenary draws its legitimacy from the powers of the President.
But FITUG does not accept Harmon’s explanation.
It said, “The sleight of hand answer, in our view, from the State Minister who incidentally is among the many Government Ministers who holds law degrees, cannot be deemed acceptable.
While the Minister explained, according to the media, that the current decision-making configuration seeks to comply with the Chief Justice’s ruling in that the Cabinet’s resignation was automatic on the passage of the No-Confidence Motion, we see it as a blatant assault on our Constitution and moreover as being contemptuous of the High Court decision.”
The Federation continued, “The shielding behind the President’s authority, in our view, has little justification, if it has any at all…From our perspective, the acts and justifications advanced by the State Minister in themselves do not hold any water. It is our understanding that there is no legal basis for the so-called ‘Ministerial Plenary’ and its convening is yet another manifestation of the Government’s naked disrespect for our Constitution and more so the intellect of the Guyanese people”.
FITUG added, “The fact remains, from all indications, that the Administration has frittered away two-thirds of the Constitutional timeline for elections. FITUG cannot help to reiterate once again that the Government, prior to its election, had, unconditionally, committed itself to upholding the Constitution. Moreover, in the oaths which our Governmental leaders took, as they placed their hand on a religious text, they swore, solemnly among other things, to uphold our Constitution, without fear or favour…Today, we ask what has happened and wonder whether the Administration, which boasts about its positive record, is, seemingly, very much petrified to face the electorate.”

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