Latest update December 11th, 2024 1:33 AM
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Guyana should take note
DEAR EDITOR,
In yet another blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British Parliament has voted to write the European Union requesting a delay of Brexit by another three months until January 2020.
This could very well pave the way for fresh elections before the end of this year, provided that the European Union agrees to the proposed extension.
It is a big gamble that Boris Johnson is prepared to take given the fact that he and his Conservative Party is running out of options. He has already suffered some defections from among his own membership which if allowed to continue could weaken his chances of winning a parliamentary majority.
What I found interesting in the British electoral system is the relatively short time frame between the announcement of elections by Parliament and the actual date for elections, which is a mere 25 days.
It is of significance that the APNU-AFC Government has managed to circumvent a 90- day deadline imposed by the Constitution through recourse to constitutional and legal challenges which is unlike what obtained in Britain where the Constitution and the rule of law reign supreme. Ironically, it is the governing party that is being blocked by the Courts from holding elections after it ruled that Parliament and not the Executive is responsible for setting a date for elections outside of the constitutionally due period.
This is how a matured democracy operates. There is that system of checks and balances where none of the three arms of the Government can dominate or assert itself over one or the other branches.
Guyana has inherited the Westminster model of governance but our administrative, judicial, legislative and electoral institutions remain, to a significant degree, dysfunctional despite over half a century of independence status.
Hydar Ally
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