Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC., said he is confident that just as ‘good triumphs over evil’ the APNU+AFC Government will win against the December 21 vote of no confidence in Parliament.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Williams was speaking at a community meeting in Karasabai Village in the South Pakaraimas where scores gathered at the village benab to welcome him along with Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock, and Minister within the Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe.
“I’m submitting to you that the good works that the government has started three and a half years ago must continue… those years of transformation cannot be eliminated or erased,” Williams told the residents, according to DPI.
The Attorney General stated that while the government respects the Chief Justice’s decision on the motion of no confidence, it did not agree with it.
“We have three courts [the Magistrate, High and Appeal Courts] and the system is a hierarchal system, and so the CCJ [Caribbean Court of Justice] is our final court of appeal. Just like the third term case, the government will win the case… we will go again, and we will not be satisfied until this matter is resolved in the CCJ,” Williams told the residents.
He said that Guyana is on the cusp of development with the oil and gas sector and therefore, the resources that will flow from the industry must be placed in the hands of qualified persons.
“My people, the government knows what it is doing, and we are here to ensure that the people of Guyana have the best opportunities and benefit from the good life… You have to look at the track record of people because there are a lot of countries in the world that have oil and the citizens are poor. We had 23 years, and we always had our natural resources, and we were still poor.
The wealth wasn’t distributed to the masses; only a few benefitted… we have oil now… Our government is qualified to have custody of our resources to ensure that all Guyanese benefit from the patrimony of Guyana”, he said, according to DPI.
The AG told the residents that the president can only set a date for elections unless advised by GECOM. He clarified that GECOM had budgeted funds for house-to-registration and not a National Election.
“This House-to-House Registration is to clean up that list and to add to it those young people who have turned 18 since the 2015 elections, and young people as you know, are the future of tomorrow; they are the majority in our population, and it would be unconstitutional for us to deprive them of their franchise… They have to also cleanse the list of those persons who have died or migrated”, he added.
The AG also said that the doctrine of necessity would never allow for the country to be without a government in place.
“At this time, it is important for the opposition to get together with the government and have consultations with GECOM on the best possible date”, the AG told the gathering.
DPI said that the visit by the attorney general to the village formed part of a ministerial outreach in the North, South and Central Rupununi over the weekend.
