CLOSE to 70 days after the resignation of Joseph Harmon as Opposition Leader, this important constitutional post remains vacant, as members of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) squabble among themselves.

Harmon resigned as Opposition Leader on January 26 of this year, amid mounting pressure from his colleagues to do so.

In addition to pondering upon a replacement for Harmon, the Coalition, particularly its largest stakeholder, the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), has to also decide on a replacement for Nicolette Henry, whose resignation from Parliament took effect on April 1.

The status quo within the opposition camp remains the same, despite several reported engagements among the leadership and membership of the PNC/R.

Although the results of those engagements are unknown, Representative of the List of Candidates for APNU+AFC David Granger believes that there still needs to be more “meaningful consultations” among the leadership of the Coalition to fill the vacant Opposition seats.

A report from Demerara Waves had quoted Granger as saying, “The Representative of the List has since written to Mr. Aubrey Norton, Chairman of A Partnership of National Unity, and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the Alliance For Change, requesting their meaningful consultations on the nominations of candidates to fill the vacancies.”

The process to fill the two vacant opposition seats begins with Granger informing the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the existing vacancies, and the names of the persons to fill them.

The Executive of the PNC/R wants Norton to become Opposition Leader, but, from all appearances, not everyone in the party is in favour of this decision. Norton had defeated Harmon in the PNC/R leadership race in December last year, in a contest that saw non-participation from more than 60 per cent of the voting delegates.

The implications of the absence of an Opposition Leader extend far beyond just a vacant position in the National Assembly, as his/her input is important to the process preceding the appointment of a person(s) to various constitutional bodies and posts.

Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir clarified that there is no hurdle to be crossed at the level of Parliament, since a new Opposition Leader and parliamentarian could be sworn in at the next sitting.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event on Monday, Nadir said the possibility of this happening depends solely on the urgency with which the APNU+AFC coalition submits the names of the persons to the Speaker.

The Opposition Leader is a constitutional post that is filled by an election of the elected members of the National Assembly who are not part of the government.

WITHIN MINUTES
Nadir noted that the position of Opposition Leader could be filled “within minutes” of the swearing-in of the two new opposition Members of Parliament.

“If names reach to me before the next sitting of the National Assembly, then those persons would be sworn in; once we have the members sworn in, it is the duty of the Speaker to convene a meeting of all the Members of Parliament not on the government’s side to elect a Leader of the Opposition, and that could happen minutes after we conclude the first sitting when the new MPs are sworn in,” he said.

Speaking to the process of appointing a new Member of Parliament, Nadir said the Constitution dictates that the Speaker of the House, after receiving a resignation letter, must write to the Representative of the List from which that resigned person comes; in this case, that person is former President Granger.

The law then stipulates that once that letter is received, the Representative of the List would write GECOM, informing the body of the existing vacancies, and the names of the persons to fill them, at which point GECOM would certify that those persons were on the list, and declare them to be duly elected.

That correspondence would then be sent back to the Representative of the List, who then informs the Speaker.

“I haven’t received anything from the Representative of the List; what happens between the Representative of the List and GECOM, or GECOM and the Representative of the List, I cannot say at this time,” Nadir said.