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…on day when bomb threat disrupts UG, Nations parents take to the streets
AMID concerns that his rhetoric can lead to serious instability here Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday yet again threatened that there would be no business as usual if his party’s demand for elections by March 19 this year is not met.
Jagdeo had made similar threats when President David Granger found his nominees to for the post of chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission ‘not fit and proper.’ Tuesday, on the picket line outside GECOM, he declared that he will be “ratcheting up” his action. While Jagdeo was making his threats, parents of children attending School of the Nations were outside of the Ministry of Public Security protesting alleged threats made against that institution and over at the University of Guyana, classes were cancelled owing to a bomb threat.
In the aftermath of the no-confidence vote, civil society and the diplomatic community have been urging all parties to remain calm and not to provoke the peace, but Jagdeo on Tuesday told supporters at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre/ Red House that the party would “ratchet up the pressure” against GECOM and the government. The picketing came ahead of what was expected to be a key GECOM meeting, where the commission was to pronounce on a timeframe for the hosting of new elections.
Barricades blocked access to the commission on High Street from Cowan and Barrack Streets, while the presence of high-ranking GPF officials sent an even stronger message. “We want to send a signal to them that they must respect the timelines imposed by our constitution,” he told the supporters. “If they do work in an accelerated manner, in a simultaneous way, they can be ready for elections by March 19.”
In what was his first public speech since the ruling that the no-confidence motion against the government was validly passed, the President said that his action and that of his government are in keeping with the constitution. While Article 106 (6) provides for the resignation of Cabinet, Article 106 (7) clearly states that notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office until the next President is sworn in. This means that the President remains the President and the government remains the government until elections are held as there cannot be a country without a government.
Asked whether there was a possibility that the opposition would agree to an extension of the 90-day period, the opposition leader hung all hopes of that on a “good-faith” discussion.
“If there is a good-faith discussion —but this government has not had any good-faith discussion thus far, it has just tried to delay the timeline—if we saw that then that could have been a compelling case to probably change the date for a few days,” he said. After the short picketing exercise, the protesters quickly dispersed from the location, some in mini-buses parked on the lawns of the Red House. Meanwhile, the A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has organised its own protest against GECOM slated for February 7, 2019, themed ‘No Registration; No Election.’
NO PEACE
Back in 2018 following President Granger’s appointment of Justice James Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM, Jagdeo had threatened:”If they think they can rig the elections and have the kind of peace that we have now…they are wrong…they are very, very wrong.” He added then, “I hope they are not thinking that in their calculations and it is not coded language.” The former President has been criticised over the years for being intemperate. He had used similar language in March 2015 at a Babu Jaan rally when he told his successor, Donald Ramotar: “The past three years must have been a nightmare to Ramotar…Sometimes we need to administer something else, some kicks up the asses,” the former President had said.
BOMB THREAT AT UNIVERSITY
Meanwhile, across at the University of Guyana, a bomb threat forced students to evacuate the Turkeyen campus and caused classes to be cancelled for the day. According to a statement from UG, the administration of the university was made aware of the bomb threat on Tuesday afternoon following information that was received at the Alberttown Police station, Georgetown, at 12:40hrs that day.
Upon receiving that information, the school, which currently has about 8000 students alongside a sizeable staff, began to evacuate onto the field in front of the school. Later, all persons were sent home as classes were cancelled for the rest of the day. Officers from the GPF and the Fire Service meticulously conducted checks in each building and surrounding areas. “I have sent all the students home and all the staff home until we have established full security of our buildings,” Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith told media operatives who were on the campus at the time.
Further, he said: “The action was deemed necessary as a precaution, and out of safety concerns for the students and staff members who would use the facility during this time.”
A later update provided by the university, via its Facebook page, highlighted that the in-depth search was completed and revealed that there were no explosives on campus. Consequently, an “‘all-clear” was given; however, Professor Griffith instructed that the campus remain closed for students and faculty members until Wednesday, January 6.
Students who were on campus at the time shared their fright over the incident but affirmed that the officers and UG administration acted well to keep the situation under control. One student who was in the Centre of Information Technology (CIT) building at the time when UG received the information of the threat, told the Guyana Chronicle that lecturers rushed into the classrooms to inform students about the threat. According to this student, members of the university community were asked to assemble on the field and were later informed by the police officers overlooking them to head home. Even as persons were evacuated, police officers remained on campus to keep persons away from the potential threats.
