Cabinet resumes meetings…days after Appeal Court ruling

Mar 27, 2019 News

Government has resumed meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers, days after a majority ruling in the Court of Appeal over a no-confidence vote.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan (left) and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on their way to the Cabinet meeting yesterday.

For the government, it would signal their insistence that it will be business as usual.
The state media was on hand at the Ministry of the Presidency.
According to Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally, the Cabinet meeting was set to take a number of important decisions. She said that her colleagues were looking forward to the first meeting of the Cabinet.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo noted that his government has always maintained that the judiciary has an important role to play. He said that the fact that the Court of Appeal by majority decision has found that the no-confidence motion has fallen, the government is continuing to do the business for which it has been elected.
He said that based on the Court of Appeal’s decisions last Friday, it is clear that there is a need for a review of the decisions of the Lower Court.
On December 21st, Government parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud, joined with Opposition in voting ‘yes’ to a no confidence motion tabled by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
The shock vote triggered a collapse of the one-seat majority Coalition Government and months of uncertainty as the courts were dragged in.
Persaud left Guyana within hours, under the protection of the Canadian government…he has dual citizenship with that country.
The no-confidence vote activated clauses in the Constitution of Guyana, which call for elections in 90 days. However, the government challenged the legality of Persaud’s vote.

PM Moses Nagamootoo heading to the Cabinet meeting.

At the High Court, Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George, in her opinion deemed the vote as carried.
However, she said that Persaud should not have sat as a parliamentarian in light of the fact that he had dual citizenship, in conflict with the laws, which state that allegiance must only be pledged to Guyana if one wants to sit in the law-making chambers.
Government then took the matter to the Court of Appeal.
On Friday, three judges – Chancellor (ag), Yonette Cummings and Justices Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory- all gave their decision.
Justices Cummings and Gregory said that the 33-32 vote was not carried as the 65-seat National Assembly required an absolute majority of 34 for a no-confidence motion to be carried. Justice Persaud disagreed.
The Court of Appeal decisions have in effect nullified the no-confidence votes.
The Opposition had signaled its intentions to approach the final review court – the Caribbean Court of Justice – and yesterday did file its appeal.
Over the last few months, since the December 21 motion, the Cabinet has not been meeting.
The Cabinet was supposed to have resigned in accordance with the Constitution.
Government had since insisted that there was no Cabinet meeting, rather, the meetings were ministerial plenaries. However, there were decisions taken there that have been published in the Official Gazette.

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