THE government will continue to function in its normal capacity, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said as he shut down calls by the opposition to have the David Granger administration reduced to a ‘caretaker’ government.

“There is no provision in our constitution that limits the exercise of the power of the government to anything and in that regard the government will function in its normal capacity as a government and all of the attendant panoply of executive power will be exercised,” the minister of state told reporters on Friday.

Since the no-confidence motion against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) was declared passed in the National Assembly, the opposition has been calling for the government to function as a caretaker administration.
But on Friday, Minister Harmon renewed government’s position that it will remain in office until elections are held in accordance with the constitution.
“There is a government and the government is functioning lawfully and legally,” Minister Harmon said.

Article 106(7) of the constitution states: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office and they 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.”

On the basis that there have been deliberate efforts to misinform the populace, the minister of state expressed the need for constitutional education.
“I believe that constitutional education is so vital to Guyana. Constitutional education that each and every article of our constitution the Guyanese people must be aware of,” he posited.

During the high-level bilateral meeting with the government and the opposition, President David Granger made it clear that his government will govern the country without any limitations to its authority. The meeting was held on January 9, 2019.
According to a joint statement issued one day after the meeting, the President stated that there is no provision in the constitution which imposes limitations on the government to perform its lawful functions.

The opposition leader, following the meeting, said that it was important for the government to remain in office. “The President made it clear that you cannot have a country without a government and we agreed with this 100%, and I made it clear that our job is not to stymie the functioning of the government.”

“So where public order is concerned and public services, etc, those have to continue,” Jagdeo said.
However, Jagdeo said while he is cognisant of the importance of having a government in place, the opposition, during the meeting, recommended that the National Assembly should only be convened to decide on matters related to the conduct of elections or any other matter mutually agreed.

But this was not agreed by the government, with the President underscoring the importance of the effective functioning of the legislative and executive arms of the government.

“Neither of these two important institutions, the legislative branch and the executive branch, could be allowed to fail. Public services have to be delivered; public order has to be maintained and therefore the two sides, reached broad agreement on how these two institutions, the legislative branch and the executive branch, would continue to function,” the President said in a televised recording moments after the meeting.

Zooming in on Article 106 (7) of the constitution, the President indicated that the government and the opposition, by agreement in the National Assembly, can extend the time beyond the 90 days contemplated by Article 106 (7) of the constitution. The opposition has since indicated it is willing to extend the timeline, if needs be.