Country over partisanship

Aug 10, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I am interested to know what drives our current crop of political leaders (from both major parties) when they make decisions on how their party will approach a national issue. Do they think of Guyana first? Or is it party over everything?
According to a recent article, Mr. Joseph Harmon stated that President Granger and his Cabinet would not be resigning after being requested to do so in writing by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo. We are witnessing a battle of two clauses of our Constitution.
Article 106 (6) states that the Cabinet and President of a sitting government must resign if defeated by a vote of No Confidence. This is Mr. Jagdeo’s main weapon, and it is a good one since it is very clear. The government is however using the next clause, Article 106 (7) which states, “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office to hold an election within three months,” or for a longer period supported by two-thirds of the National Assembly.
Three months from the vote of No-Confidence would have been on March 18, 2019. Then we had the CCJ Appeal, which pushed the timeline out to June 18, 2019. Therefore, elections should be held by September 18, 2018, three months after the CCJ ruling. This does not look like a reality given that GECOM is still in preparation mode.
Since Parliament has not met, there has been no official approval to extend the date for holding General Elections. The APNU government seems to dismiss the word ‘interim’ and interpret it as implying that the sitting government would still be in charge. Alluding to this, Harmon also added that the Government ‘will attend to matters which are considered urgent and in the public’s interest’, I wonder what could be more urgent and in the public’s interest than national stability?
While the government continues to run out the clock, and the PPP continues to protest and rev up their base, we are starting to head into ‘silly season’. This time around, with so much at stake given our incumbent oil revenue, it could be extra silly if our leaders do not put country over party. I am hoping to see the APNU government follow the constitution and stay within the timeframe set to resign and hold elections, and also for the Opposition PPP to avoid riling up their base to oppose everything the government tries to do.
If you cannot come together and do this for our country, then it is time for both sides to step aside and let new blood guide our nation forward.

Sincerely,
Shazaam Ally
The Citizenship Initiative

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