– to disrupt elections processes

Dear Editor,

REFERENCE is being made to the November 4, 2019  Stabroek News’ (SN) article quoting Jagdeo as saying, “Parliamentary democracy ‘collateral damage’ in gov’t’s efforts to overturn no-confidence vote”. 

A violation of the Constitution of Guyana cannot be explained away as collateral damage, according to Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo. It is a deliberate and willful violation of the law, and disrespect for the nation’s highest decision-making forum.

Mr. Jagdeo is wrong, and he must not be allowed to hoodwink Guyanese and the international community into believing that his failure to uphold the Constitution and the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) can be explained away as collateral damage. Nobody sets out to do collateral damage; it is incidental. What Mr. Jagdeo had set out to do is violate the Constitution when he declared, in bombastic fashion, that he is not going back to parliament. 

This is open contempt and disregard for the highest-decision making forum of the land, and whereas he has demonstrated a willingness to hold others accountable to the law, he is demonstrating, when it comes to him and the PPP, that  the law does not apply to them. This is another dualism in society where the PPP’s bad is good, and others good is bad. True to form, they always seek to justify their wrong by spinning lies as facts. The media and others in society must hold them accountable.

Article 106 of the Constitution still allows the government to function. There is no excuse for parliament not to reconvene. None whatsoever.  Item 7 in the CCJ’s July 12 Judgement expressly states: “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.” Any failure on the part of the National Assembly to give effect to its responsibility means that the date for the election would not be constitutionally declared, thereby creating conditions to challenge the results.

Mr. Jagdeo is leaving no stone unturned to disrupt the elections processes, and should the results not favour his party, he will challenge same on the ground that it was not constitutionally determined, i.e. the two-third votes needed in the House to have the election held at “such longer period” outside of the “within three months” as per Article 106(7). There is no doubt he would have thought about this, and is leaving the door open to challenge the constitutionality of the elections, should the result not find favour with him. He is, in every nook and cranny, seeking ways and means to disrupt, even at times when there is nothing to disrupt. He is not playing by the rules, and cannot be trusted. It would be a detriment to this nation if the willful violation of the Constitution is allowed to happen. We must hold the David Granger administration accountable that Mr. Jagdeo and fellow PPP Members of Parliament not be allowed to be in breach of the law.

The concentrated focus on how the PPP can take the reins of power by any means possible, even if it means abrogating their constitutional responsibility and undermining the Constitution of the country, must not be countenanced. As recent as August, after the CCJ ruling, the Chief Justice (CJ), in her court, reportedly expressed that “we are supposedly in a period of an extension for the timeframe for holding elections, but that extension has not been agreed on” (KN August 3, 2019- ‘Elections date long gone- Chief Justice’).  In said article, the CJ is quoted directly as saying, “We are still waiting on the National Assembly to meet.” SN, on October 7, reported Basil Williams wrote Anil Nandlall about returning to Parliament, and his response was the PPP will not be returning (See “No going back to Parliament – Nandlall says in reply to Williams”). President Granger noted as much in a later interview with SN.

We the people must not allow the flagrant violation of the Rule of Law, for such carry dire consequences for the sovereignty of the nation and welfare of all its people.  The Constitution and Laws of Guyana do not only apply to the government; it applies to the opposition, and all of us. Government should take note of what the Opposition is saying; that they have the numbers for the quorum and is not sitting. This notwithstanding, where the Opposition is chair of critical parliamentary committees such as Natural Resources, Public Accounts and Constitutional Reform, they are not working yet shouting that government must do this and that, or is not doing this or that.  

The legislature is the place where the Government is held accountable to the people, and it must be allowed to work. Something is morally reprehensible about these MPs who, according to the Clerk of the National Assembly, have received their salaries and benefits each month.  For months they have refused to work, yet they continue to stretch out their long hands to receive. Reference is often made to Karl Marx’s parasitical class. Mr. Jagdeo’s behaviour as Leader of the Opposition shows his willingness and predatory instincts to benefit, even from society’s downfall. That is parasitic.

The National Assembly is out of recess, and must be convened to give meaning to the CCJ ruling, the constitutionality of the election date, and ensuring government functions.

Regards,
Lincoln Lewis