Amid political deadlock and facing growing criticism over his decision to suspend parliament, President Donald Ramotar yesterday announced that he will call general elections but declined to name a date, saying that he will “announce further steps” in this direction early next year.
“I have considered and I have consulted and this is my resolve: We will go to elections,” Ramotar told a news briefing at State House yesterday. He conceded that his suspension of parliament had failed to achieve his objectives but refused to reveal the date for polls, saying that it is his prerogative to decide. He did, however, say that early in the new year he would disclose the date.
The president’s refusal to name a date was derided by the parliamentary opposition who deemed it “cowardly” and “farcical.” They called on him to immediately identify Elections Day.
The president’s formal identification of Election Day will have a bearing on several processes. As it stands now, parliament remains suspended and Ramotar would have to issue a proclamation to dissolve it. When the proclamation dissolving parliament is issued, elections would then have to be held within three months. There are also implications for spending and should Ramotar chose to name a date late in the first quarter, it would mean that general elections could be held as late as mid-next year with the government making use of several Constitu-tional provisions to cover spending even as there is concern about this issue.
Ramotar yesterday cited his desire not to “disrupt” the Christmas season for Guyanese as well as his itinerary for his decision not to name a date. “Because of some of my own itinerary I don’t want to tie myself down to a date but the earliest option, the earliest time, I will be ready to do that,” he told reporters.
Earlier, reading from a prepared statement, a tired-sounding Ramotar, who has been travelling in the Rupununi for the past few days, recalled his decision to prorogue the 10th Parliament. He prorogued parliament just about a month ago on November 10th. “My reason for making that decision… it was to preserve the life of the 10th Parliament so as to provide the 10th Parlia-ment, specifically the political parties therein, another opportunity to address to finality the many issues that had yet failed to have full parliamentary consideration,” he said identifying the anti-money laundering bill, the education bill, the telecoms bill, among others.
“The parliamentary opposition reacted disappointedly and sought to discredit my initiative even to claim it was unconstitutional,” he said. Ramotar recalled that he wrote Leader of the Opposition David Granger and also addressed the nation as well as met with stakeholders. “My administration more than justified the resort to prorogation,” he asserted.
Ramotar has been unable to mobilise support for the prorogation of Parliament and his government has been increasingly criticised over the move. He has come under fire from political parties, civil society and other groupings, with the UK and Organisation of American States, among others, calling on him to end the suspension of parliament.
Yesterday, the President said that Guyanese were exposed to an opposition position that rejected dialogue. On December 2, Granger responded to Ramotar’s November 18th letter inviting him to talks and declined attendance at the proposed dialogue.
“I had to concede that my objectives for prorogation were unlikely to be achieved. It logically followed that other options to prorogation had to be considered,” Ramotar said.
The president said that his options were to return to the 10th Parliament or to general elections. “The return to Parliament was not an option I exercised on November 10th. My judgment was it meant business as usual, including the debate on the opposition’s no-confidence motion in my administration. I am of the opinion that since then, very little has changed and the opposition leader David Granger’s rejection of my invitation to dialogue has cemented my reasoning,” he said.
“Should the parliamentary political parties return to the 10th Parliament to business as usual? Where there is no productivity and especially during this Christmas season? Consi-deration of that option has occupied me since I received the disappointing news of Mr. Granger’s rejection of dialogue,” Ramotar said.
“I have considered and I have consulted and this is my resolve: We will go to elections,” he declared.
The president said that he has since written to the international community alerting them to the possibility of early elections and the desire for them to field observer missions. “However, we will not disrupt and damper the Christmas spirit with the evident purposeless parliamentary debate. Early in the new year, I intend to announce further steps towards the direction of general and regional elections in Guyana. In the meantime, I will be consulting Gecom on its readiness and Guyanese can get on with the business of having an enjoyable Christmas,” the president said.
Cowardly
The opposition yesterday called on the President to name a date, with the main opposition coalition APNU charging that his announcement of polls next year was further evidence that the government had not been serious about dialogue. “APNU calls on the President to stop ‘pussy-footing’ with the lives of the Guyanese people and name a date for elections,” the coalition said in a statement.
According to the grouping, Ramotar’s attempt to give justification for the failure of his administration and his silencing of the voice of the people is further proof that the PPP/C cannot be trusted to handle the affairs of Guyana. “For this President to ignore the ongoing prorogation of the Parliament of Guyana…highlights the PPP/C’s cowardly attempt to avoid the flood of adverse criticism facing its scandal-prone administration especially pertaining to corruption and crime,” the statement said.
It noted that APNU had earlier alerted the nation that the PPP/C had been preparing for general and regional elections for several months. “This was the reason why the President has been systematically scuttling every attempt to reach agreement on important issues to be debated by the National Assembly with the opposition APNU and AFC,” the coalition said.
“APNU is convinced that this was the reason why the President precipitated a political crisis by proroguing Parliament on 10th November. The PPP wanted a ‘free hand’ to continue to spend state resources on the ‘schools’ cash grants’, the ‘clean-up-the-country’ and other projects as part of its elections campaign,” the statement said.
“APNU warned that the President was never serious or sincere about dialogue with the Opposition. Dialogue should have been aimed at addressing the needs for local government elections, collaboration on the national budget, the passage of anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislation and other matters,” the statement said.
The coalition added that it is convinced that the outcome of the forthcoming election will be determined not by the PPP’s political trickery but by the votes of hundreds of thousands of Guyanese who are fed-up with the PPP.
Farcical
Meanwhile, AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News that the president’s refusal to name a date was farcical and contributes to uncertainty, which is not good for the country. “I am very disappointed that he announced that he is going to make an announcement,” he said. “He ought to have announced a date for the elections and be done with it.” Deeming the president’s announcement as “farcical,” the AFC leader said that it is an extension of the prorogation of parliament. “Name the date and let’s get on with it,” he asserted.
Ramjattan also expressed the view that Ramotar has no support within the PPP to be the presidential candidate for the next elections. According to him, a number of prime movers and key players within the PPP are telling Ramotar that he should not run again because he cannot get a majority. “He is playing for time for his own candidacy for the next elections,” Ramjattan asserted, adding that there is turmoil within the ruling party. “We are ready, it would appear that he is not ready,” he declared.
The AFC leader also said that the President’s refusal to name a date contributes to the continuing uncertainty and this is not good for the country and the crisis is stifling the country economically. He noted the opposition’s refusal to engage in dialogue at this point. “We have talked and talked and he has not listened,” he said.
Lacking in seriousness
Meanwhile, political analyst and attorney Christopher Ram noted that despite the president’s announcement of elections, the Parliament remains suspended and will continue to be until Ramotar issues a proclamation to dissolve the law-making body. Only when the President does this will the countdown to election begin, he said.
He said that the president’s announcement with the refusal to name a date was lacking in seriousness and as it is, the government is marking time and running the country without being accountable to the National Assembly. It is possible, Ram said, that elections would not be held until mid-year and this would mean that the country would have been operating without a parliament for a full year.
Ram, also an accountant, noted the financial implications with the national budget having to be presented before the end of April. He also noted that various Constitutional provisions can be used for certain types of spending but there are limitations on these spending. “The Constitution has limitations as to the scope of spending after dissolution,” he observed, pointing out that such things like subventions to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) are not covered. With the financial year ending at the end of this month, only limited spending for essential services is allowed until the budget is passed, he pointed out.
Ramotar had said that spending would be lawful and had noted that the Constitution provides how spending of public funds are done within this period. “I can assure you that whatever we do, we will do it within the law, within our Constitution, how it allows us to spend money, that will be how it will be done,” he said.
Ram, meanwhile, also described Ramotar’s announcement as “very disrespectful” to the country and also observed the president’s reasons for not naming a date. “He is clearly putting his own travel itinerary above democracy in this country,” the analyst declared. He said that the president’s announcement leaves the country in greater uncertainty and suspense than if he had announced the dissolution of parliament. “Instead of reducing the duration of the uncertainty, the President has added to it. That will be very harmful to business,” he said.
