President Donald Ramotar yesterday hinted that he might run for office again if early elections are called but said that the question has not come up for discussion.
“I haven’t seen why not; that question has not arisen anywhere,” was Ramotar’s response when asked if he would be the candidate when elections are called again.
Government is facing a possible no-confidence motion brought by the Alliance for Change which if supported by A Partnership for National Unity would see general elections being held within 90 days.
The President yesterday also weighed in on the talk about snap elections and said, “If we have to do that we will do it, if it is needed to be done.”
However, he said the holding of General Elections was pricey and as a consequence he would prefer to wait until the required five-year term had elapsed before elections are called.
“Elections are an expensive thing too you know, so let’s try to save the Guyanese people some money and go as long as we can to the term if possible,” he said.
The AFC has drafted its no-confidence motion against the government and the party’s leader Khemraj Ramjattan on Friday said that the document will be distributed to the relevant parties to be discussed and reviewed.
Ramjattan told Stabroek News yesterday that the motion is no more than 20 words long. “We are finished [with] the draft; we are going to circulate it around to [Opposition Leader David] Granger and so on,” he said. After consultations with the opposition parties, the motion will be made public and there may be additional input, Ramjattan said. He noted that the no-confidence motion as it stands, is simple and direct.
According to the AFC leader, he consulted and looked into various no-confidence motions and decided that the simplest format was the most direct. He said that the AFC’s management committee meets on Mondays and the party will formally discuss it at the meeting.
He stated that the no-confidence motion is no longer something the party is talking about, but a reality: “We are going to bring it, there is no doubt we want to table it. This is our position, but of course it has to reach consensus with the other political parties.”
APNU’s parliamentary votes are needed to pass such a motion but the coalition has yet to make a decision on the matter. Analysts have said that it is in a tight spot over whether or not to support the AFC-led move.
Granger had made reference to the 10th Parliament’s five-year term at a press briefing commemorating APNU’s third anniversary. “I believe that the remaining two years of the life of the 10th Parliament you will see much greater autonomy of the National Assembly,” he had said.
Granger’s choice of words raised the question of whether it was deliberately done in the face of the prospect of APNU having at some time to decide on a motion of no-confidence against the government, or whether it was just a slip of the tongue. Observers say that given his awareness of the prospect of a no-confidence vote, it would have been tactically wiser for Granger to leave open the prospect of a vote rather than hinting that the government would run its full course.