PPP has been more responsible than govt. during no-confidence impasse - Jagdeo

PPP has been more responsible than govt. during no-confidence impasse – Jagdeo

Feb 23, 2019 News

“Many people don’t realize how responsible the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has been,” said the party’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo. He opined that since the no-confidence motion was passed in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, the party has shown more responsibility and initiative to resolve the impasse, in a manner that upholds the supremacy of the Constitution.
At the Office of the Leader of the Opposition last Thursday, Jagdeo said “I walked across the same night the no-confidence motion was passed and said to Harmon, ‘Could we arrange a meeting with the president to talk this through and to talk about the future?’”
That meeting happened 18 days later, which Jagdeo believes is an indication of the government’s disregard for the Constitution. Even then, when the two sides met, Jagdeo’s assessment of that forum was that it was “business as usual” for the government.
After Chief Justice Roxane George delivered her ruling on the validity of the No-Confidence motion, on January 31 last, the Ministers resorted to forming a ministerial plenary, as a show of respect for the Chief Justice’s ruling. This is because a verdict of her ruling resolved that Cabinet is resigned.
Jagdeo made reference to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who said that the plenary has all powers of the cabinet. He condemned the notion of the plenary having the same powers of the cabinet, and said that the Ministerial Plenary is unconstitutional and illegal, because the law does not grant cabinet powers to such a body.
It was less a show of respect for the ruling, and more about outmaneuvering the ruling, Jagdeo opined.
“[They] set up a ministerial plenary to bypass the court.”

PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo

Asked whether he will seek further dialogue with the President, Jagdeo said “I’m not meeting to gaff again.”
“So far, we have been the most responsible opposition. Since when, [do] I have to be the only responsible one?”
He told members of the media that the PPP has done enough and that it is the President’s responsibility to handle these matters with diligence.
“When I requested the meeting, it was not to deal with an issue as fundamental as this one, where the government was so entrenched with its position on the matter. That is behaving as though nothing happened.”
The opposition leader believes that GECOM is complicit with the government of Guyana in violating the Constitution.
Jagdeo has leveled a series of criticisms at GECOM officials and commissioners in relation to election-related issues
“It is a corrupt, undemocratic government that is trying to hang on to power at all costs,” said Jagdeo.
However, Jagdeo said that despite the government’s attempts to postpone General and Regional Elections, the timeline cannot be altered by the courts. The Constitution only permits the three-month timeline to be extended if there is a 2/3 vote of the National Assembly, which Jagdeo has vowed the PPP will not accede to.
“The PPP has done all it can, at this point” Jagdeo said, without subverting the Constitution.
Currently, the party is calling on the Chancellor, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, to ensure that the government’s challenge of the motion at the Court of Appeal is dealt with expeditiously. Jagdeo asserted that there is no other court matter that should take precedence on the time of the court, than an issue which is about the constitutionality of the government. The international community, including CARICOM, has also called on the Court of Appeal to have the matter dealt with expeditiously.
“So there is nothing to prevent the immediate hearing of these matters,” he stated.
As for the dissonance between the March 19 deadline and the February 2019 timeline set by GECOM, Jagdeo rests the blame entirely on the government, which he believes, has not cared to respect the Constitution. He said that after March 19, the government will be illegal, and that what happens thereafter could depend on the international community to level appropriate sanctions.

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