Call for snap elections before no-confidence motion not ‘impossible’ – HPS
– motion’s consideration no-one day affair, could be ‘soap-opera’

OPPOSITION leader Brigadier (rtd.) David Granger, yesterday confirmed A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) support for the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) no-confidence motion against the Government, and together the combined Opposition is expected to address the motion in October, when the National Assembly comes out of recess.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, yesterday at a news conference, stated that a call for snap elections from the Head of State during the two-month recess, before the motion is tabled, is not impossible.
“Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible…I don’t believe it is a question of strategy that determines the response to a no-confidence motion,” he said.

SOAP OPERA

However, Dr. Luncheon noted that if the recess, which starts on Friday, is uneventful, there is a process of consideration that must be followed in addressing the tabling of a no-confidence motion – a process the HPS likened to a soap opera.
“The debate and the points that are made and the points that are not made and who said what; I don’t mind having a soap opera behind the whole issue, the whole process evolving to its fullest before a decision is made,” he said.
According to him, there is no need to speculate on the process that will follow once a no-confidence motion is tabled, as the mechanisms to address such a move are clearly spelled out in both the Constitution and the Standing Orders that guide the proceedings of the National Assembly.
He said, “There is hardly any need to speculate, where indeed a resort to mechanisms that allow for the consideration of parliamentary political parties to act on motions and those type of challenges to the established order.
“…the no-confidence motion is an example of the type of challenges that national governments face and I am saying that they are specific mechanisms that are captured in the law and various authoritative sources that would indeed dictate how these matters are dealt with.”

Dr. Luncheon added that the current Administration expects that once the no-confidence motion is introduced, the stipulated process will be set in motion.
“Our expectation is for the motion to be introduced, for the Speaker to rule and then kicking in would be the decision making on these issues and this has to do with timing, the exigencies; you have a recess, you have a process for consideration of a no confidence motion,” he said.

NO ONE-DAY AFFAIR
The HPS made clear that the consideration of a no-confidence motion will be no one-day affair.
“Its consideration is prescribed. It is not intended to be a one day affair….one has to delve into Constitution, standing orders, the law, agreement between political parties on the way forward.It is a matter of process,” he said.
Asked if the matter was discussed at Cabinet at its last meeting on Tuesday, Dr. Luncheon noted that note was taken of the development, but there was no substantive discussion on the matter.
“Note was taken at the Cabinet meeting of the intention that had been reported in the media, but I am not quite certain if what subsequently took place can be called a discussion,” he said.
The notion of a no-confidence motion was first voiced by the AFC’s Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo, in mid-June. Nagamootoo had indicated that the party was considering the movement of a no-confidence motion against the Government. Nagamootoo, in an article published in the Stabroek News, under the headline ‘AFC considering no-confidence motion against Gov’t’, said such a move is seriously being contemplated by his party. However, he acknowledged that a no-confidence motion would have to be supported by the main Opposition. A few days after, last Friday, APNU endorsed this possibility as a serious consideration.

READY FOR ELECTIONS
President Donald Ramotar, at his most recent press conference, made it clear that the ruling party is in a state of readiness in the event of “any” elections, be it local government or general elections.
“We have said that we are ready and we have to be ready. We have to be ready because we have a one-seat minority in the National Assembly. The joint Opposition has one seat more than we; therefore it means that at any time they can pass a no-confidence motion. From that point of view, we have to always be ready for any elections,” he said.
The Head of State also maintained that his Government will not be threatened by talk of a no-confidence motion, a sentiment he expressed when the notion of a no-confidence move against his Government was first raised.
“If the Opposition wants to bring a no-confidence motion I cannot stop them from bringing a no-confidence motion, but I will be ready to deal with the consequences of that,” Mr. Ramotar said.
Section 106 (6) of the Constitution states that: “The Cabinet and President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of the majority of all Members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”
However, the following paragraph, Section 106 (7) makes clear that: “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 no less than two-thirds of all elected members of the National Assembly, and shall resign after a new President takes the oath of office following the election.”
Additionally, the President has previously hinted at the possibility of an early return to the polls, as a means to address the political gridlock that has gripped the nation since the 2011 general elections, which gave the ruling party, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) the Government, but also resulted in a majority in the National Assembly for the combined Opposition, the AFC and APNU.
The last general elections in Guyana were held in November 2011.

(By Vanessa Narine)