The CCJ has maintained its integrity as an impartial arbiter of the law

Jul 14, 2019 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) reminded us on Friday that the Constitution of Guyana envisages that the Government that falls under a vote of no confidence must continue as a caretaker or interim Government until elections are held and a new Government is appointed.
The Caribbean Court rightly avoided dictating the date by which elections should be held, and they suggested that the provisions of the Constitution of Guyana must set that date. In short, they have kicked the football right back where it should be played, by the politicians.
For us, the CCJ has maintained its integrity as an impartial arbiter of the law. The CCJ recognizes that this internal, political matter of the date for new elections must be directed by the politics of the land, meaning the President and the National Assembly.
The politics of the land at this time require that a new List of Electors is created, because the old one has expired. In other words, there is no valid, current, credible list, because the last one expired on 30 April 2019. That list was padded with the names of hundreds of persons long dead, with persons who registered more than twice with different names, and with people who migrated years ago.
On the flip side, that old list did not have the names of the thousands of youths who would have attained voting age (18) since the last registration in 2013. Leaving them off the voters’ list is so wrong that it’s almost criminal. These young people have grown into the right to vote, and they will not be disenfranchised.
GECOM assures us that the new registration process will be completed by the end of 2019.
The Alliance for Change, as a partner in the Coalition Government of Guyana, assures every Guyanese that the Government fully intends to respect and honour the provisions of the Constitution. We have an obligation to the people of this country, and will continue to be guided by the spirit of the Constitution, the spirit of the Carter Charter, and the spirit of consensus.
We do have to decide what limits are imposed on a ‘caretaker government’, what projects and programmes would be put on hold until after the upcoming general elections, and what can be continued. The Government knows what our developmental priorities are, and we know that there is no time to dilly-dally.
Guyana is already in ‘transformation mode’ and the greedy grabbing hands of the opposition should not be allowed to slow down or stop the developmental programmes that have begun to make us ready for first oil. Things are happening fast; investors are coming and setting up their oil-related businesses; Guyanese are being trained and made ready to work in the oil industry; new infrastructure is going up and plans are on the drawing board for more.
Development cannot stop just because one set of people believe that they should control the nation’s purse … and they have succeeded into fooling some citizens into believing that they won’t steal the nation’s money…again.
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
In the meantime, the AFC held its annual conference on June 15 and democratic elections for new office bearers. We do not believe in selecting office bearers and candidates, and we do not indulge in internal rigging of elections, like the other side. Plus, the AFC’s leadership welcomes criticisms from its members because they make the party stronger and are committed to the development of Guyana, no matter what.
The conference was relatively incident-free. The AFC has elected a new, strong leadership team that includes Khemraj Ramjattan as Leader, Raphael Trotman as Chairman, Cathy Hughes as Vice-Chairperson, and David Patterson as our new General Secretary. The 12-strong National Executive members will work hand-in-hand with the very competent Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Dr. Vincent Adams, Michael Carrington, Alison Mohamed, Sherod Duncan, Haimraj Rajkumar, Ricky Ramsaroop, Dominic Gaskin, Nicola Trotman, Neilson McKenzie, Trevor Williams and Derek Basdeo.
These are decent, hard-working people with integrity and the capacity to stand up to bullies. So we expect the attacks to continue on social media and in the newspaper letter columns, but we will fight back. It’s our democratic right to do so.
The AFC takes this opportunity to express our gratitude for the work done by our present Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, Party Statesman. He has served this country well as a very experienced, decent politician. He works hard for both the AFC and Coalition and has spearheaded a few changes of his own.
PM, thank you very much for your kind and heartfelt service to this dear land of ours. You have served well, and have helped to rid this country of the corrupt PPP, from Government, that is. We will always be grateful for your insights, and that honesty that has served this nation so well
The AFC will continue to be a strong, vibrant and committed party. We will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our ‘Coalition’ partners towards a wealthier Guyana with fast developing industry and services sectors, and a striving people working together regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or other differences. That is the meaning of the good life for all.

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