Facing parliamentary opponents determined to push through a no-confidence motion against the government in the National Assembly tomorrow, Attorney-General Anil Nandlall yesterday urged the opposition to reconsider and said that the suspension of the House presents a “golden opportunity” for both sides to agree on an agenda.
President Donald Ramotar on Tuesday threatened that he will either prorogue (suspend) or dissolve Parliament if the opposition proceeds with its planned motion of no-confidence. The combined opposition – APNU and AFC- remain resolute that they would go ahead with the motion and met on Friday to finalise their plans for specific anticipated government moves tomorrow. If passed, the no-confidence motion would force the President and his Cabinet to resign and general elections would have to be held within three months.
However, with the prorogation of Parliament, the government can win itself breathing room for up to six months then it has to recall Parliament again.
It seems likely that the President would suspend Parliament should the opposition move ahead with the no-confidence motion and while emphasising that he is not committing government to this course, Nandlall, in an interview with Stabroek News yesterday talked-up prorogation. The government, in an ad appearing today also said that prorogation offers an opportunity for the opposition to demonstrate their commitment to consensus building and to work out with the government, a parliamentary agenda that will be beneficial to all Guyanese.
“Prorogation is valid up to six months…so the government can’t go beyond six months and in my view this presents an opportunity for the opposition and the government to return to the table. The prorogation can be recalled at any time and Parliament can resume sitting by another proclamation issued by the President once we arrive at a position so this presents an opportunity for the government and opposition to sit around the table to work out an agenda that will benefit the people of this country,” Nandlall told Stabroek News.
Emphasising that the President has not yet committed to which course he will adopt, the Attorney-General noted the different options available and said each one is provided for by the Constitution.
“Prorogation is an attractive concept because…politics is dynamic and things change quickly in politics…dissolution offers finality, it’s final. Dissolution is final, it means that we’re going to the elections,” he said. “Prorogation offers us, offers the country options and that option is to go back to the table and work a modus vivendi with the opposition and that is the opportunities that the prorogation presents,” the Attorney-General added.
“I hope that the Leader of the Opposition [David Granger] who said that he is interested in consensus-building, he is interested in working together, the option of a prorogation presents him with that golden opportunity,” Nandlall asserted.
He also noted that Granger alluded to “unpredictable consequences” and “I am alluding to predictable consequences.” The ball, he said, is now in Granger’s court for him “to match his words with deeds.”
The AG said that he was optimistic that there could be consensus and though he may disagree absolutely with the political approach of the opposition, he wants to believe that they have the interest of Guyana as their paramount consideration and therefore working out a programme with the government must be to the benefit of Guyana.
Meantime, should the government prorogue Parliament, the up to six months allowed for the suspension of the Assem-bly by the Constitution would extend up to May 10 next year. However, the national budget has to be passed by the House by the end of April 2015. Asked about this, Nandlall said that the situation is fluid. “It’s a mercurial situation, it can change at any moment. Once there is a consensus arrived at between the government and opposition on a way forward, we resume Parlia-ment,” he said.
“The government’s ideal position is that we would like to go to the Parliament and get on with the parliamentary agenda which is important to the people of this country,” he asserted.
He had noted that the President has not said that the government parliamentarians will not be going to the sitting and up to the time of the interview yesterday afternoon, that decision as far as he was aware had not been made. That is one option, “that we will go to Parliament and participate in the sitting,” the AG said, while adding that the second aspect is to deal with the dissolution and prorogation options to which Ramotar made reference.
Nandlall said that the procedures are all provided for in the Constitution and the President has an option to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament “before the no-confidence motion.”
“I say that to emphasise that if the President is to proceed along the route of a dissolution or a prorogation then the President would be acting in compliance with the constitutional mechanisms, the constitutional provisions and therefore I reject the notion that the President would be acting wrongly, improperly or would be resorting to an option that is undemocratic,” he said.
Nandlall blamed the opposition for the current situation which was sparked by Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh spending money not approved by the National Assembly. The government has said that it has acted in keeping with the ruling of the court. “It is the opposition that has put us in this problem,” Nandlall said.
The Attorney-General asserted that many of the actions of the combined opposition are not supported by their constituents. He cited the hold-up of the anti-money laundering bill, the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and the cutting of the budget. “All those people who, the people who turn up to collect the $10,000 grant which came as a result of the budget restoration, many thousands of them are APNU supporters, are supporters of the opposition but they turn up to collect their money,” he said referring to the government’s ‘Because We Care’ cash grant to parents with children attending public schools.
He said that the opposition has a false sense of security. “They are not acting in sync with their supporters and they have not been acting in sync with their supporters for a long time,” he said while adding that he expects that following new elections, the PPP will regain a parliamentary majority.
He had said that the PPP’s track record speaks for itself. “The no-confidence motion is not a mechanism for the government to defend its track record,” while adding that such a motion, at the end, be determined by a numerical equation of votes so government cannot win.
