Former President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday told Stabroek News that he was not interested in a third term.
His restated position on the issue comes in the wake of a court petition filed by Cedrick Richardson who says that Jagdeo should not legally be prohibited from being a candidate for presidential election by Act No. 17 of 2001, which added two clauses to the 1980 constitution to allow for re-election only once. This is on the grounds that it restricts the voters’ choice of candidates and such a restriction could only be effected through a referendum.
“He remains committed to not pursuing any further appointment to elected constitutional office or posts in Guyana,” Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon relayed in a statement from Jagdeo at his press briefing yesterday.
The former President himself told Stabroek News that he had asked Luncheon to make his views on the issue known as he could not do so himself since he was travelling and was on his way to India from Russia. “I am in Russia. Heading to India now. Asked Luncheon to communicate my position,” Jagdeo stated.
Luncheon said that Jagdeo’s stance on the issue was based on principle and that the filing in the high court seems to be a calculated attempt to create uncertainty given that the country is close to holding regional and general elections.
“This his most recent statement reiterated a public position, one that he has repeatedly declared since he demitted office, after the 2011 general elections. This most recent statement is in part a response to apparently, the deliberate attempts to create uncertainty at this particular point and time in Guyana by the filing of a constitutional motion that essentially seeks to void constitutional amendments that limit the term of office of an elected president of Guyana,” Luncheon asserted.
“Former president Jagdeo, who is named in that motion by the applicant, has disclosed his disinterest in the matter and his firm resolution not to entertain further constitutional post holding. The former president insists in his position of principle consistent with his earlier declarations to the public to all and sundry concerning this matter,” he further added.
This court action comes just three months before Guyanese are expected to head to the polls, raising questions about its timing and the motives of Richardson, who identifies himself in court documents as a 50-year-old West Ruimveldt resident. He was listed as a driver at the time of the last elections.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with Richardson but understands that he is within the employ of the lawyers who filed the High Court writ on Monday, attorneys Shaun Allicock, Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, Emily Dodson and Coleen Sparman.
Asked about the genesis of his client’s action on Monday, Allicock had told Stabroek News that Richardson is a Guyanese and one who exercises his voting rights and who feels that his constitutional rights have been affected by the amendments.
At the moment, the matter is being reviewed by acting Chief Justice Ian Chang and he is expected to set a date for a hearing shortly.
Jagdeo, who was elected in 2001 and 2006, is not eligible to run for another term due to the alteration of Article 90 of the constitution with the addition of clause (2), which states, “A person elected as President after the year 2000 is eligible for re-election only once,” and clause (3), which states, “A person who acceded to the Presidency after the year 2000 and served therein on a single occasion for not less than such period as may be determined by the National Assembly is eligible for election as President only once.”
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