Opposition asks CCJ to order election by Sept. 18 -maintains no need for House-to-House registration

Jul 11, 2019 News

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The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has maintained that it will be in a position to hold credible general and regional elections anytime after Christmas, December 25, when an Official List of Electors (OLE) will become available following House-to-House registration. The Opposition, however, is saying that this is unacceptable. In fact, lawyers for the Opposition are asking the CCJ to make an order that the President, by proclamation, appoint a date for the holding of elections no later than September 18.

The Opposition, through Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, in its submissions on Consequential Orders advanced that the Cabinet, including the President shall resign, but remain in office and hold an election for members of the National Assembly within three months of June 18—when the CCJ affirmed that the No-Confidence Motion was properly passed.
The Senior Counsel said that in accordance with Section 7 (1) of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act No.15 of 2000, as amended by Section 7 of the Act No. 10 of 2018., the OLE would only have been subject to revision after six months from October 31, 2018, and accordingly would have been the list used for the election if it had been held on or before March 21—given than election was initially due with 90 days from December 21, 2018, the date the motion was passed.
Mendes held, “…It is respectfully submitted that in order so far as possible to ensure compliance with the constitutional mandate to hold an election no later than 21st March 2019, the election which must now be held, ought to be ordered to be held on the basis of the Official List of Electors in existence on 21st March 2019. That way, any argument concerning what list is now to be used is avoided.”
According to the Opposition, there is no need for a new OLE. Against this backdrop, the Senior Counsel maintained that there is no requirement for GECOM to hold House-to-House registration.
Mendes said that the consequences of the vote on the No-Confidence Motion are spelled out in Article 106 (7) of the Constitution of Guyana. Article 106 (6) says, “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”
Article 106 (7), on the other hand reads, “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”
Mendes pointed out that there was no vote by the National Assembly extending the period during which election was to be held. He therefore maintained that in obedience to Article 106 (7), an election ought to have been held no later than March 21. The Senior Counsel added that no attempts were made by government to hold an election after Chief Justice Roxane George ruled that the No-Confidence motion was valid.
“The Attorney General (Basil Williams) appealed that decision and despite there being no stay of the requirements of Articles 106 (6) and (7), still no attempt was made to hold an election. Neither did the Cabinet, including the President, resign.” He noted that it is without a doubt that after the Court of Appeal ruled that the vote was invalid, the Government was no longer obligated to hold an election.

However, now that the Chief Justice’s ruling has been restored, Mendes is asking the CCJ to fashion such Consequential Orders to ensure that, as far as possible, the requirements of Articles 106 (6) and (7), are enforced.
Given that an election was to be held on or before March 21, and that date has already elapsed, Mendes reasoned, “The only order which would comply with the spirit and intent of Article 106 (7) is an order requiring an election to be held within a reasonable time, but certainly not later than three months from the date on which the (CCJ) reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal…”
The Senior Counsel is essentially seeking an order that an election be held within three months of June 18, as though the No-Confidence Motion was passed on that same date. According to Mendes, Williams and GECOM have both canvassed for Consequential Orders which would permit an election to be held at some yet unspecified time after December 25.
Mendes submitted, “They say this is made necessary by the alleged fact that the official list of electors is not ready and can only be made ready after the completion of House-to-House registration exercise which cannot be completed before 25th December, 2019, an exercise which, mind you has not yet begun and is only carded to begin in July 2019. They say that fixing a date for the election in accordance with their timetable will not violate the Constitution because Articles 106 (6) and 106 (7) are to be interpreted as director only, by which they mean, presumably, that the requirements of those Articles may be ignored without legal consequences.”
“The obvious consequence of the stance taken by the Attorney General and the assumed independent Elections Commission is to ask the (CCJ) to participate in a sanction to further violation of the Constitution,” Mendes put forward in his submissions. Mendes said, too, that general elections are due in the first half of next year, and the Consequential Orders being sought by Williams and GECOM are for elections to be held at a point which would render the vote of no confidence entirely ineffective and otiose.
He continued, “Whereas the vote of no confidence, if given effect to, would have shortened the term of office of the Government by at least one year, the effect of the consequential order which they seek would be to permit the Government to serve out its full five year term. This Honourable Court is urged the sanction such a cynical and indeed transparent attempt to subvert the Constitution.”

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