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The government has fallen

Jun 21, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The government’s reaction to the recent decisions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), concerning the no-confidence motion (NCM) and the appointment of the Chairman of GECOM, has revealed the hollowness of our country’s political leadership. The government is dazed, jaded and caught off-guard.
Why that should be the case is incomprehensible. A rule in planning is that you plan for the worst and for the best.
There were only two scenarios which could have arisen from the CCJ: the worst or the best outcome. Insofar as the government was concerned, the decision was the worst possible outcome.
But not surprisingly, the government was unprepared for it. If it were a boxing match, the verdict would have been a knockout. The government admitted that the CCJ rejected every single argument that it advanced. In other words, the government had no case.
Why the government thought otherwise would surprise anyone. During the NCM cases, one CCJ judge did suggest that this case should never have reached the Court. The government was lucky that the court did not rule that its actions in contesting the NCM amounted to an abuse of process rather than an exercise of challenge to the constitutionality of legislative acts.
The government should have been ready for any eventuality. It could hardly have felt that it had a case, but Guyanese put trust in luck and hope. Both were in short supply during the cases in front of the CCJ.
The government has found itself helpless and clueless. It does not know how to react to this judgment. It was given an opportunity to reach a political agreement with the opposition before arguments for orders are heard next Monday.
The government has placed the cart before the horse. Instead of summoning an urgent meeting, the government is now likely to await the orders before meeting with the opposition.
This is a clear sign that the government is distressed and has become paralysed by the court’s decision. It does not know what to do. It is placing its faith in magic; that somehow things will work out in its favour.
The APNU+AFC government is clinging desperately to the demand for house-to-house registration to give it a few more months in office. But what does a few months change? The fact is that it was booted out of government by someone from within its own ranks?
It does not change also that four of its senior Ministers had to resign because they were dual citizens. It will not change the fact that there will have to be a new Chairman appointed from a list submitted by the Leader of the Opposition.
The NCM has therefore weakened the government and dampened its morale, and this filtered through to its supporters. Many of its supporters are exhibiting signs of high trauma. While the government may be in a state of confusion, the supporters are distraught. Some of them are not thinking straight.
On social media, some of these supporters are openly flaunting their insecurity. They are petrified at the very notion that the government has fallen and that elections have to be called. Some of them have lost reason. On social media, they are asking why it is that the President cannot appoint whom he pleases as the Chairman of GECOM.
One therefore has to spare a thought for the government and its inability to come to grips with the reality that it has fallen. It does not matter when elections are held. The APNU+AFC government has been defeated by a vote of no confidence. It has fallen, and many of its supporters are suffering the traumatic effects of this defeat.
But in as much as one can be concerned about the government, greater concern must be for those of its supporters who seem to be deeply troubled by the decision of the CCJ. Like the government, they should have seen what was coming. They too seem not have a plan B.

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