The joint opposition met yesterday to analyze options before them on the planned no-confidence motion against the government and agreed on a strategy.
“We are going ahead with it on Monday (but) we don’t want to discuss in detail what we are doing to the press so that government is privy and then they too can counter,” a source close to both opposition parties told Stabroek News last evening.
The source said yesterday’s meeting between the two sides saw them analyzing the possible countermeasures that government might want to take to block the motion being moved on Monday. However both sides remain confident that they will be prepared for “any surprise moves” government makes come Monday.
A key moment at Monday’s sitting will occur when AFC MP Moses Nagamootoo rises to move the motion. Based on President Donald Ramotar’s address to the nation on Tuesday, were the Opposition to proceed with the motion, he would then prorogue or dissolve Parliament. However, it is possible that the AFC could push for a rapid and brief debate of the motion and it would then be left up to the Speaker of the National Assembly to permit or disallow this. In previous statements, the Speaker had suggested that such a motion would require a full debate.
A joint statement from the opposition yesterday stated “The Parliamentary majority parties A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and The Alliance For Change (AFC) met today at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, Hadfield Street, Georgetown. The parties used this opportunity to concretize their position on the ‘No Confidence Motion’.”
Representing APNU were Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier David Granger, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Basil Williams, Amna Ally, Carl Greenidge, Joseph Harmon, Ronald Bulkan, Winston Felix and Dr. George Norton.
The AFC was represented by its leader Khemraj Ramjattan and executives Nagamootoo, Cathy Hughes, David Patterson and Michael Carrington.
The meeting was set before President Ramotar announced on Tuesday evening that were the AFC to proceed with the motion, which has been the centre of debate for months, he would move to either prorogue or dissolve Parliament. Either way, fresh elections will be called though the government now seems unprepared to fall to an opposition motion of no confidence.
Both opposition parties used the opportunity yesterday to agree on a strategy for Monday. The two sides will meet again tomorrow to continue discussions and concretize a plan in their preparations for Monday’s Parliament sitting.
AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan had told Stabroek News on Sunday that the party was prepared to flex on the timing of the motion in the interest of having some of the important matters still on the agenda speedily addressed but yesterday he stressed that he did not want a lengthy wait.
Ramjattan also expressed disappointment that in the president’s address on Tuesday no mention was made of the Public Procurement Commission as one of the pressing matters to be settled., an institution his party has continuously been lobbying for. “I heard nothing about the procurement commission and I very disappointed,” Ramjattan said.
APNU’s leader has called the president’s ultimatum a cowardly act and said that Ramotar should “face up to his responsibilities to the nation and defend his administration” in the no-confidence vote. According to him, the president’s decision to “run away” means that he is not prepared to defend his administration’s record. He also said that the president “failed to negotiate in good faith. He has not negotiated at all. He made no attempt to be reasonable and pay attention to the opposition’s calls.”
With respect to Ramotar’s threat to prorogue or dissolve the Assembly, Granger stated that this is not a “democratic answer but a dictatorship answer” before adding that it is also a cowardly move. Yesterday he reiterated his position saying “His (Ramotar’s) threat suggests he wants to shut up the people though the National Assembly…the entire episode is quite regrettable and the entire approach is a cowardly act to a national issue,”
Meanwhile in a move, seemingly targeted to quell the concerns expressed by Speaker of the House Raphael Trotman that the President has no constitutional power to reconvene the house , a formal notice was sent to Parliament by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
Trotman had pointed out that while Ramotar made a public announcement that Parliament would be convened on Monday it was the PM, who is leader of government’s business in the house, who has to do so.
With the PM following parliamentary protocol, a formal notice was sent to Parliament’s office for the reconvening on Monday and the 33-page Order Paper plus appendices dispatched.
The Order Paper contains a range of other business which the government wants to proceed with. Other matters on the agenda include the tabling of the report of the Auditor General for 2013. There are also 19 questions to be answered by ministers and reports from various committees.
Observers note that another complication in the passage of the no confidence vote or the prorogation of Parliament will be the fate of next year’s budget. If a no-confidence motion is passed or the President prorogues paving the way for general elections, the schedule for the poll would have to be such so as to allow a new government to be in place before the statutory deadline of March 2015 for the budget. It is possible however that provision could be made under article 219 (3) of the constitution which addresses what happens whenever Parliament is dissolved with sufficient budgetary provision being made.
In his address on Tuesday, the President referred to either a prorogation or dissolution of Parliament to stave off the AFC no-confidence vote. Depending on which one is applied it could mean a difference of two months from the ending of this life of parliament to the start of a new one.
Article 69 (1) of the constitution says that “Each session of Parliament shall be held at such place within Guyana and shall begin at such time (not being later than six months from the end of the preceding session if Parliament has been prorogued or four months from the end of that session if Parliament has been dissolved) as the President shall appoint by proclamation”.
