Submissions in for consequential orders
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

…Gov’t restates case for new registration
…PM says time for serious talk

ATTORNEYS representing the Government of Guyana and their counterparts for the Opposition Leader have both delivered their submissions to the Caribbean Court of Justice, which will guide the issuance of consequential orders stemming from the upholding of the no-confidence motion and the quashing of the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.

Attorney General Basil Williams confirmed to Guyana Chronicle that his team, which includes Belizean Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, has made its submissions. He said, too, that the lawyers for the opposition would have done same. The AG would not disclose the contents of the submissions. However, last week he had released a brief proposal for the consequential orders which include that government remains in office until a President is sworn in after elections are held, and insists that house-to-house registration must be used to determine the list of eligible voters for any future polls.

The administration has also proposed that decisions taken by former chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice James Patterson be upheld, urging the invoking of the de facto doctrine. The proposal had contrasted with what the Opposition has put forward. The Opposition has proposed the immediate resignation of the government; the holding of elections in three months; and the utilisation of a claims and objections exercise to finalise the voters’ list.

Attorney General Basil Williams

The government, in its proposal, has acknowledged that the Motion of No-Confidence debated in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, was validly passed in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution. However, it has stated that “The Government, including the President, Prime Minister, Ministers and Cabinet shall remain in office until a President is sworn in after elections have been held.” Article 106 (7) of the Constitution states: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office, and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall, by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”

Additionally, the Government is proposing that it be ordered that the National Assembly convene to have a resolution passed in order that the time be extended for the holding of an election within the earliest time as indicated after the President has consulted with GECOM. The government has also proposed that if for any reason, the National Assembly does not pass the Resolution, or the Resolution does not garner the requisite majority for an extension, the President, after consultation with the Elections Commission, shall dissolve the National Assembly, and General and Regional Elections shall be held on a date to be fixed by the President under Articles 70(2) and 61 respectively.

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE 
On the contentious issue of new registration, the Government has outlined in its proposal that the registration of persons for the purpose of ascertaining who is qualified to be an elector is by ‘house-to- house visits’, as provided for under Section 3(1) of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act of 2000. “General and Regional Elections shall be held on the National Register of Registrants/Central Register under the National Registration Act, which Register is to be prepared by ‘house-to-house visits’ pursuant to Sections 2 and 3 of the National Registration Act as amended by the National Registration (Amendment) Act No. 31 of 2007,” the government asserted.

On the issue of the chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, the government has asserted that account must be taken of the de facto doctrine that all acts done by the chairman while he purported to perform the duties of chairman shall be declared valid. Additionally, it has proposed that “before the list is formally handed over to the President in order to facilitate the appointment of a chairman of the Elections Commission, the President and the Leader of the Opposition shall communicate with each other, in good faith, not excluding meeting face-to-face, with a view to agreeing to a list of six persons who meet the eligibility criteria, not unacceptable to the President, from which the President shall select a Chairman of the GECOM in accordance with the Constitution as expeditiously as possible.”

Submissions
When the court convened last week, its president, Justice Adrian Saunders granted more time to the leaders here to find political consensus in relation to the consequential orders. The parties were given until July 1, 2019, to file written submissions and will meet again on July 12, 2019, for final judgment. President Saunders outlined that the submissions must concisely guide the court, based on the positions of the parties, on the consequential orders it should make.

Leading up to the period of July 12, 2019, the CCJ expects the leaders of the country’s two main political forces to meet to come to an agreement on some or all the matters in discussion.

Much depends on LOO

Senior Counsel, Eamon Courtenay

Towards this end, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, writing in his Sunday newspaper column ‘My Turn’ said much depends on the Leader of the Opposition (LOO), Bharrat Jagdeo, to act in good faith. “I do not expect him to repeat his three previous rituals of submitting lists that had provoked and invited unilateralism,” Nagamootoo said. Government has since written Jagdeo to schedule a meeting and also clarify aspects of the CCJ ruling in relation to the appointment of a new chairman for GECOM. There have been some exchanges between the two sides, but government sources said that a meeting is likely this week.

Meanwhile, Nagamootoo said unilateralism was never intended when the Carter Formula was contemplated for the 1992 elections. “All six names submitted by the Leader of the Opposition were acceptable, and President Hoyte selected the non-partisan, affable, quintessential public servant, Rudy Collins, whose name was recommended by me to Dr. Jagan. He delivered Guyana’s first post-independence, universally acceptable elections.”

No coercive orders
On the issue of the consequential orders, the Prime Minister said in keeping with the guiding principles that he has read so far, “I would expect that this distinguished court of last resort would make orders that are advisory and not coercive. It would be guided by the unique constitutional arrangements, as well as the problematic electoral history and ethnic polarisation in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, which it fully understands.”

According to the prime minister, as a priority, the Guyanese President has accepted the resignation of the Chairman of the Elections Commission, whose appointment was voided by the court. His Excellency has written to the Leader of the Opposition, inviting him to meet, as was done previously, to dialogue on the way forward. “I believe that it is not inconceivable that an accepted list could be crafted within a reasonable time. “

Time-frame for elections
Mr Nagamootoo also touched on what he described as the thorny issue of the likely time-frame for new elections. “Here again, the CCJ would be expected to navigate in a practical way, the schedule for previous elections, and would not be constrained by any hypothetical deadline. There should be an outer limit that gives proper room for sanitising of the voters’ list, for dissolution of Parliament, for Nomination Day and then, Polling Day.”

The prime minister said except for the 1992 polls when elections were already delayed by some two years, the time-frame between dissolution of parliament and election day is usually no sooner than eleven weeks – around 80 days. He noted that for the 2015 elections, President Ramotar dissolved parliament on February 28, set April 7 as Nomination Day, and May 11 as Polling Day. That was within the context of a proper voters list.

“Given an early time-frame for completion of voter revision before the end of November, from a practicable stand-point, new, clean and credible elections could not be expected until an outer limit of January-February 2020. At this time there is no voters list. The last list expired under law on April 30, 2019. At the November 28, 2011 elections, there were 342,126 voters. By 2015, there were some 583,444 registered voters in a population of just above 750,000 citizens. It is quite possible that that expired list was heavily padded with phantom names!”

NEW REGISTRATION
Nagamootoo recalled that on the eve of the 2015 elections, the then Chairman of the Elections Commission, Dr. Steve Surujbally, outlined the factors that resulted in revision of the voters list. These included (a) registration of persons coming of age; (b) deceased electors; (c) emigration of an unknown number of Guyanese who registered and subsequently emigrated; and (d) movement of citizens from remote rural to urban areas, and to new housing schemes across the country. “Dr. Surujbally concluded that ”Notwithstanding the enormous costs associated with such an undertaking, it would be advisable to have another H-t-H (house-to-house) Registration exercise before the scheduled 2020 General and Regional Elections”. This is enough reason why the time has come for talk. Serious talk,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo asserted.

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