…President assures Gov’t will make funds available for elections
…restates policy of non-interference in electoral management

PRESIDENT David Granger said the Government will use its majority in the National Assembly to make the $3.5B available to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the preparations of General and Regional Elections.

“So, regardless of what happened at the Supreme Court, regardless of what happened at the Court of Appeal, regardless of what’s happening at the CCJ we are going to ensure that we satisfy GECOM’s requests,” President Granger told Guyana Chronicle on the sideline of an accreditation ceremony on Wednesday at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Addressing the media for the first time since the Court of Appeal ruled that the No-Confidence Motion against the Government was invalid, President Granger said he never disengaged the elections management body. Before the ruling was handed down on March 22, GECOM Chairman, Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson, had informed the President that approximately $3.5B was needed to facilitate early General and Regional Elections.

President Granger had asked the Commission, on two occasions, to present its plans, programmes and financial needs for the hosting of credible elections, in the shortest possible time.

A November, 2019 timeframe was given by GECOM. However, with the Appellate Court ruling that the No-Confidence Motion was invalidly passed, at this stage, Government is not mandated to hold early elections this year.

The Opposition prior to the ruling was up in arms against the Government, and had demanded that elections be held by April 30, 2019. It has now moved to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal, and has indicated that it will not attend the National Assembly until a final determination is made by the CCJ.

“I have made it clear that the Government, Executive Branch, cannot interfere in the internal administration and decision making in GECOM; that we cannot intrude, we cannot interfere, we cannot direct them or instruct them. So, I am very happy with the level of cooperation I’ve been getting from the Chairman and as far as possible we are going to satisfy those needs. We are going to go back to the Parliament, whoever attends, we are going to go back to Parliament and make requests to ensure that GECOM has everything it needs,” President Granger said.

Clean elections
The President said the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government is committed to having “clean” and “credible” elections in the country. He said regardless of the outcome, the Government wants GECOM to be ready. “In other words, we are going to ensure that whatever happens, at any level of the judicial system, Guyana is going to be prepared,” he told this newspaper.

A date for the sitting of the National Assembly has not been set. However, the President assured the press that the Assembly will meet soon. The President explained that while GECOM had submitted a request for budgetary allocation for the preparation of elections, the High Court’s decision that Cabinet ought to have resigned with immediate effect following the No-Confidence Motion last December had affected its ability to move to the House for its approval.

“We could not go to the National Assembly because only Cabinet could submit a Bill to the National Assembly. Now that the ruling of the Chief Justice has been set aside, Cabinet has sat, and we have decided to go back. I cannot say when, but the earliest date possible, every convenience met,” President Granger told reporters.

Government’s Chief Whip Amna Ally told this newspaper that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C’s) decision not to attend the National Assembly will not hinder the work of the Parliament. “It is not the first time that the PPP will boycott Parliament, so it is not a strange thing for them not to come to Parliament. But what I must say, business will be as usual. We are going ahead with the business of the country,” the Social Protection Minister told Guyana Chronicle.

The Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, who was once demanding that the High Court’s decision be respected following what is now considered as the “failed no-confidence motion,” is refusing to accept the decision of the Court of Appeal. The PPP/C’s decision to boycott the National Assembly during the period means that they will not be able to make representation on behalf of the Guyanese that elected them to the National Assembly.

However, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, during a televised broadcast last Friday night, hours after the ruling, said that the decision of the court “settles the matter,” which had been discussed within the public domain for months. He said the decision also brought about some level of certainty.