…Finance Ministry advises

THE Finance Ministry, in providing guidance to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) regarding funding for General and Regional Elections, has stated that the 2019 appropriation for the elections commission is not subject to alteration by the ministry.
Furthermore, it stated that the $3B allocated to GECOM for house-to-house registration in 2019, cannot be transferred for use in new elections without prior approval of the National Assembly.

The response was given to the commission on February 13, 2019, after Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, was directed to seek out the advice following an expression of uncertainty by the commission.

The letter was signed by Finance Secretary Michael B. Joseph. Copies were sent to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan; Junior Minister of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma; Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs; GECOM Chairman, Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson and Accountant General (ag.) Jennifer Chapman.

In response, the ministry said that the constitution states, in Section 227(1)(b), that: “No monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except where the issue of these monies has been authorised by an Appropriation Act.”
It was chronicled that in compliance with the constitution, Appropriation Act No. 22 of 2018, the National Assembly approved $5.37B to meet the total expenditure of GECOM for the Fiscal Year 2019.

The approved sum was informed by a submission of $3.36B for house-to-house registration in 2019. The letter went on to state that the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act No. 4 of 2015 in section (7), enacted by the Parliament of Guyana, stipulates that: “The annual budget of a constitutional agency approved by the National Assembly shall not be altered without the prior approval of the National Assembly.”

It added: “It therefore means that the 2019 appropriation for the elections commission, as a constitutional agency, is not subject to alteration by the Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the Office of the Finance Secretary has no ‘locus standi’ in this matter.”
Meanwhile, examining Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruling upholding the Speaker’s decision that the no-confidence motion was validly passed and that Cabinet is separate from government and should resign, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams had pointed out the flaw in the ruling.

“The opposition has been saying that the government should only have a caretaker role, which would really be to pass legislation for funding of the elections; but I don’t know if they realise that if there’s no Cabinet then no financial bills can be taken to the Parliament,” he said earlier in the month.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, on the other hand, has argued that the $3B sum for house-to-house registration could be used to facilitate the new elections. At a previous press conference, he told media operatives that “parliament could legitimately convene”—and the opposition would attend– on the basis of passing new laws or supplementary provisions for GECOM.

However, Williams referenced Article 171 (2) (ii) of the constitution which states: “Except on the recommendation or with the consent of the Cabinet signified by a minister, the Assembly shall not: –– proceed upon any Bill (including any amendment to a Bill) which, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of the following purposes –– … for imposing any charge upon the Consolidated Fund or any other public fund of Guyana, or for altering any such charge otherwise than by reducing it…”
In preparation for the 2020 General and Regional Elections and ahead of the no-confidence vote, GECOM was allocated the $3B through the 2019 budget for fresh house-to-house registration. The aim was to ensure that the current list would be in order for the 2020 elections by clearing it of dead persons, persons no longer residing in the country or a community and ensuring that those now eligible to vote are added to the list.