THE opposition leader’s requests for Cabinet to resign, the National Assembly to be dissolved and the proclamation of a date for General and Regional Elections are being examined by Attorney General Basil Williams.

“I would like to assure you that your requests are being examined by the attorney general in light of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the rulings of the Caribbean Court of Justice,” President David Granger said in a July 26, 2019 correspondence to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

The President’s letter is in response to a letter sent by the opposition leader on July 20, 2019. In that letter, Jagdeo asked the President to issue a proclamation dissolving the 11th Parliament and fix a date for the next General and Regional Elections. The elections, Jagdeo said, must not be held beyond September 18, 2019. The opposition leader also called for the resignation of the President and Cabinet, on the basis that a no-confidence motion was successfully passed against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government.

However, President Granger has long indicated that he will proclaim a date for elections when the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) advises him that it is in a state of readiness to facilitate credible, free and fair elections.

During a recent Public Interest Television Programme, President Granger said the government, through the National Assembly, has financially equipped GECOM to prepare for elections; however, a date cannot be set until the elections commission indicates that it is capable of conducting credible elections.

GECOM, through its attorney Stanley Marcus, had informed the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that it could only facilitate credible elections after December 25, 2019, when house-to-house registration is completed. GECOM has said that it cannot conduct elections on an expired List of Electors’, and house-to-house registration has become necessary to produce a new and credible list. That countrywide exercise commenced on Saturday.

“At this stage, only the elections commission has the authority to run elections, not the Executive, not the National Assembly, not the President; and I am going to abide by whatever decisions the elections commission takes with regard to the preparation of the list. I will abide by the advice of the elections commission on when to call elections. Right now it is only the elections commission that could determine the time and the form of elections, and I am prepared to abide by their decisions,” President Granger had said.

His position is one which was taken by Jagdeo when he was serving as President of Guyana in 2006. In an address to the nation, the then President had said: “The law says that GECOM shall define the form of verification of the list or may decide on verification and will decide on what form it will take. Not the PPP, not the PNC, not any party, GECOM. That’s a constitutional body, independent just like the courts.”

In giving an overview of government’s posture in the current political construct, President Granger said he and his government have been fully compliant with the rulings and consequential orders of the CCJ. He said though the term interim government is not defined in the Constitution of Guyana, the government has accepted that position in keeping with the CCJ’s orders.

“There is nothing in the Constitution which defines interim status, but in the jurisdictions which adhere to the Westminster system, if you want to call it that, in Canada, Australia and other countries, we have consulted with the laws, and interim government means that we do not for example pass a budget, we obviously got to keep government running, the routine functions of government; I cannot undertake state visits and sign agreements with foreign countries, we have to limit our expenditure, we have to ensure that we don’t embark on any controversial projects, so there are about half of a dozen or more conventions with which we have to comply to ensure that the government restrains expenditure, restrains its actions,” he explained.

He added: “It doesn’t mean that the government is out of office; it doesn’t mean that the government ceases to function. There cannot be a void; you cannot have a country that is ungoverned.” The President maintained that everything he has done thus far is within the confines of the Constitution and the decisions of the CCJ.