Nandlall admits CCJ refused PPP orders
PPP, Lawyer, Anil Nandlall
PPP, Lawyer, Anil Nandlall

…but takes issue with AG pointing out same

Opposition, lawyer, Anil Nandlall has admitted that the Caribbean Court of Justice had refused to grant the orders sought by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
In a missive complaining about a full-page advertisement by the Attorney General Chambers which showed the consequential orders sought by the opposition and what the court grant, Nandlall pointed out that the clear objective of the advertisement is to demonstrate that the specific Orders sought by the Leader of the Opposition and Zulfikar Mustapha were refused by the CCJ.

He noted that the advertisement is divided into two columns. In one column, it lists the Orders prayed for by the Leader of the Opposition in the No-Confidence Motion cases and the Orders prayed for by Zulfikar Mustapha in relation to the case challenging the appointment of James Patterson as chairman of GECOM.

“However, the author deceptively omits the parts of the judgments which say emphatically, that those Orders were not granted because the Constitution itself, specifically and adequately, provides for what must happen when a No-Confidence Motion is passed in the National Assembly, that is to say, Cabinet, including the President, must resign, elections must be held within three months and within that three-month period, the Government remains in Office as a “caretaker” until the next President is sworn-in.”

However, contrary to Nandlall according to the Adrian Saunders, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice at Paragraph 5 of the No Confidence Motion judgment: “The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has the responsibility to conduct Elections …” Secondly, Justice Saunders, expressed “Article 106 of the Constitution invests in the President and the National Assembly (and implicitly in GECOM), responsibilities that impact on the precise timing of the elections which must be held.

It would not therefore be right for the Court, by the issuance of coercive orders or detailed directives, to presume to instruct these bodies on how they must act and thereby pre-empt the performance by them of their constitutional responsibilities. It is not, for example, the role of the Court to establish a date on or by which the elections must be held, or to lay down timelines and deadlines that, in principle, are the preserve of political actors guided by constitutional imperatives. The Court must assume that these bodies and personages will exercise their responsibilities with integrity…”

Chief Justice Saunders added at Paragraph 3 of the No Confidence Motion judgment: “It is now a matter of the greatest public importance that the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman.

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