President David Granger yesterday met with Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRoque, whom he assured that he is prepared to comply with the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on the matter of the motion of no-confidence and is committed to ensuring credible elections are held.
The CCJ on Tuesday upheld the motion of no confidence against the government on December 21, 2018 and consequential orders are to be issued by the court – Guyana’s highest – on Monday in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
A Ministry of the Presidency release stated that the President engaged LaRocque on the critical matter, relating that he will soon be inviting Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, to a meeting.
The meeting yesterday with LaRocque was held at the Ministry of the Presidency.
The President said that government respects the ruling of the courts, and had only been seeking to clarify and bring certainty to what had been a contentious issue. Furthermore, he reminded that all entities have a right to appeal to the judicial branch to interpret cases.
He said that there is no chaos or crisis as a result of the ruling, and maintained that government will continue to respect the Constitution and abide by the law.
“We respect the jurisdiction of the National Assembly, we respect the jurisdiction of the Court,” said President Granger, noting that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is an autonomous body though funded by the Government.
With respect to actions that have been taken by government so far since the December, 2018 vote of no-confidence, the President referenced his meetings with Jagdeo, which occurred twice, earlier this year.
He further noted his interactions with the Chairman of GECOM, reminding that he could go no further than provide funding for the entity to carry out its operations.
He stated that while he is committed to having credible elections in the shortest possible time, he “cannot intrude in GECOM’s work” by proclaiming a date without their advice, noting that he did not want to create a situation where elections are called and the Commission is unprepared.
The CCJ also ruled on Tuesday that the President’s appointment of the GECOM Chairman was unconstitutional. This would essentially mean that the present holder can no longer continue to function.
According to the release, LaRoque thanked the President for the brief, and committed to providing assistance within the scope of the Secretariat, as it has done during General and Regional Elections, in its role as an Observer Mission.
