THIS chapter of Guyana’s history will soon be written for posterity. Its most signal recall will be the honour and dignity in which President David Granger and his A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition government navigated the political and constitutional turbulence that the no- confidence vote (NCV) has engendered.
The December 21, 2018 NCV ensued from a no-confidence motion moved in the 65-seat National Assembly by opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who is leader of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). The APNU+AFC coalition constitutes a one-seat majority government with 33 seats in the House.
The opposition PPP has 32 seats. Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, declared the motion passed with 33 votes for and 32 against. Then government backbencher Charrandass Persaud defied his party and voted with the opposition. The ephemeral defeat required the government to resign and call elections within 90 days, as prescribed by Article 106 (6) and (7) of the Guyana constitution.
Immediately after the vote, Mr. Persaud fled to Canada. By then the government had obtained prima facie evidence which suggested he had pursued US $1 million in gold for export. Simultaneous allegations that Mr. Persaud ostensibly received a multi-million US dollar bribe to vote with the PPP exacerbated suspicions. A criminal, national security investigation, which remains extant, was ordered by Police Commissioner Leslie James.
Article 106 (7) of the constitution states that notwithstanding the 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.” The no-confidence provisions catapulted to national prominence, as it fuelled much debate in the legal and political fraternities and became the basis for consequential legitimation.
Mr. Jagdeo and his political allies attempted to corruptly pervert the constitution. They claimed that Article 106 (6) mandates the government to resign immediately and call elections within 90 days. Closeted, anti-government crusaders transformed themselves into noisy carnival barkers, and invaded our polity with mendacious propaganda.
Legal practitioners, who had previously offered themselves as honourable citizens, renounced their heretofore argued opinions which are indelibly etched in the public square. Instead, they proffered manifestly perverted interpretations of the law to inseminate cultural identity politics.
Amidst the enterprise to drive our society into anarchy, the government reigned. It’s adamancy of the nullity of the NCV led the coalition government to challenge the validity of the vote in the Supreme Court. The pillars of the government’s argument were: (i) members of the Assembly cannot vote against their party’s list. (ii) Mr. Persaud’s vote was invalid because he possessed dual citizenship and is ineligible to be a member of the Assembly, and (iii) the NCV did not attain the majority vote entrenchment required for passage, as envisaged in Article 106 (6).
On January 31, 2019, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, upheld the NCV. She also ruled that persons with dual citizenship were ineligible to be elected to Parliament. However, she invoked the doctrine of necessity to validate Mr. Persaud’s vote in accordance with Article 165 (2) of the constitution. The government prevailed on appeal to the Guyana Court of Appeal (COA). The COA held that the NCV did not attain the required majority 34 votes entrenchment. The PPP instantly appealed the COA’s ruling to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), where the matter is sub judice and has been fixed for argument on May 10, 2019.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jagdeo has been proving himself to be a rabid demagogue. He has been travelling around the country telling supporters that the government is illegal and is refusing to call elections which the PPP will win. He has also engaged in reckless and potentially criminal conduct, to generate instability, polarisation and anxiety. Most reprehensibly, Mr. Jagdeo has called on his supporters to attack President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo – a disgraceful provocation of violence that must be denounced by all.
The coalition government’s mature, resolute and dispassionate governance successfully piloted the country through the implosion of planned PPP destruction. Throughout this national ordeal, the government led by example. President David Granger, who is intensely battling cancer and receiving treatment in Cuba, emerged as the consummate statesman who guided himself by the principle of meticulous constitutional adherence. He never spoke an ill of his political opponents or complained about their personal attacks. He confidently reassured the world that the nation was in good hands and that his government will obey the constitution and rule of law.
The President governed on an even keel, maintained national tranquility and continuously demonstrated fidelity to the constitution. He did not follow Mr. Jagdeo into rabbit holes of no return. He advised the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to commence preparation for elections in the event the COA upheld the no-confidence vote. Moreover, President Granger caused the resignations of four government ministers with dual citizenship, to bring his government into compliance with Article 155 (1) (a) of the constitution, as well as the rulings of the chief justice and the COA.
The President’s shrewdness and towering leadership left Mr. Jagdeo and the PPP dangling precariously over the cliff of constitutional breach. They potentially violated criminal law. They violated Article 106 (7) of the constitution by refusing to amend the 90 provisions to fulfil the mandate of the elections commission. PPP Members of Parliament with dual citizenship, Gail Teixeira, Adrian Annamayah and Odinga Lumumba have refused to resign in violation of the constitution and orders of the courts. It is this same propensity for lawlessness, disregard of the rule of law and abuse of power that galvanised the people to vote the PPP out of office in 2015.
The Guyanese people know President Granger. He has been tested and proven to be a wise, even-tempered visionary who leads by example and demonstrates fidelity to the law. This is the embodiment of a true statesman and leader. He has earned the trust of the people. They respect his nobility and will entrust him with a mandate to lead our nation into modern development.
