CCJ and the Consequential Orders... We lost the battle, but won the war - Attorney Sanjeev Datadin

CCJ and the Consequential Orders… We lost the battle, but won the war – Attorney Sanjeev Datadin

Jul 13, 2019 News

When one considers the Consequential Orders that were handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday, Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin, opines that the political Opposition lost the battle but won the war.

Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin

During an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Datadin said that the opposition lost the battle to get the CCJ to hold President David Granger to timelines for calling a date for elections and appointing a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Datadin reflected, however, that the war was won when the CCJ unambiguously noted that the Constitution is clear that elections should have been held following the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion on December 21, last. This meant that General Elections should have been held by March 21.
Datadin said that given this premise, elections must now be held in three months’ time, which would be in September. Further to this, the lawyer for former Alliance For Change (AFC) member, Charrandass Persaud, who gave his support for the Opposition’s successfully passed No-Confidence Motion, expressed that the war was also considered won when the court declared that Guyana has a caretaker government.
Datadin said this essentially means that international organisations and companies like ExxonMobil have to change the way they deal with the APNU+AFC administration.
That aside, Datadin said he is disappointed that the court did not issue timelines. He reminded that the opposition had asked the court on Thursday for its consequential orders to instruct that the President call elections in three months and appoint a GECOM Chair in three days.
The lawyer said, “…The court has now left that dilemma without any intervention in it, except to repeatedly say that everything must be treated in utmost good faith , utmost respect. All of those ‘utmosts’ mean nothing to the people of Guyana. Under Article 153, the court has the power to make such orders, issue such writs, and give such directions to remedy the breach of Constitution that has been complained of.”
Datadin continued, “It is transparent that the government engaged in everything they can to delay the holding of elections and the court has done nothing to abate the wanton disregard for the law. The court should have, and was expected to do justice, and they have simply abdicated their responsibilities to the people of Guyana.”

Datadin added, “We are now left to the mercy of our politicians who have demonstrated no ability to resolve the said issues…”
The lawyer stressed that the court should have taken a stance and issue deadlines so that the delay tactics of the government would not further stymie the process of appointing a GECOM Chair and the holding of early elections.

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