…as gov’t awaits clarity from CCJ on consequences of No-Confidence Motion

CABINET remains an active organ of the Government and will continue to be until and unless the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) advises otherwise, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, said on Thursday.
The Director-General said while the CCJ validated the December 21 No-Confidence Motion against the government, it did not rule that Cabinet must resign with immediate effect as was done in the High Court when Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire delivered her judgement.

“We have seen nothing in the ruling of the CCJ which says that the Cabinet should not meet, and in fact, Article 106 (7) speaks to the President and the government remaining in office,” Harmon said. At the time, he was responding to a series of questions posed at a press conference at the Ministry of the Presidency.

While Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states that “the Cabinet including the President shall resign if the government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence,” the Director- General said, the rulings of the CCJ have conflicted with the country’s constitution, and as such clarification has been sought.

He explained that the Government, in its submissions to the CCJ on the consequential orders that should flow from the June 18 landmark judgements, asked that the court clarify whether Cabinet should meet pending the conduct of General and Regional Elections. “So we await the clarification from the CCJ on that matter,” he posited.

Clarity, on the part of the CCJ, is expected to be given on Friday, July 12, 2019, when it makes the consequential orders in the No-Confidence Motion and Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman appointment cases.

“We expect that in its ruling on the 12th of July, that the CCJ will clarify these matters. As it stands right now we have seen nothing that says that the Cabinet should not meet,” the Director-General maintained.

“It is our duty as a government to govern and, therefore, every single day that we are in government, we have to execute the mandate of governing and ensuring the people’s business is taken care of,” he told reporters.

Noting that the Parliament of Guyana has not been prorogued, Harmon assured reporters that the National Assembly will continue to meet, and bills, motions and other documents will continue to be laid before the House for consideration. “(We) will continue to perform those functions until such a time that there is a clear decision that says you should not do it,” Harmon said.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and the Parliamentary Opposition – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has accused government of illegally occupying office. The Opposition has called on foreign companies not to engage the government during this period, but the Director-General said that ‘call’ has had little effect on international business relations with Guyana. Government, he made clear, will not be threatened or intimidated by the Opposition.

“We have not been advised by any of the foreign companies that operate in Guyana that they feel threatened by any such statement and that as a result of that, they have decided not to do something they had decided they will do.

“We have a president, we have a government that is functioning and it is the responsibility and duty of this government to ensure that an environment is there which allows for foreign companies to operate in this country, and operate under the conditions of peace,” Harmon said.

The High Court, in January, had ruled that while Cabinet ought to have resigned with immediate effect following the passage of the No-Confidence Motion, the President and Government should remain in office, in accordance with the Constitution, until a new president is sworn in.