Attorneys for Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, Christopher Ram and Charrandass Persaud have proposed that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) order that Cabinet, including President David Granger, resign and that a date be set for general elections within a three-month period as a result of the court upholding the validity of the no-confidence motion that was passed against the government last December.
Attorney Anil Nandlall, who is part of Jagdeo’s legal team, made the disclosure yesterday at a panel discussion at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in Georgetown, where he said the proposal had already been dispatched to the lawyers representing the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) ahead of a hearing next Monday before the CCJ.
Nandlall, who is a former Attorney General, further disclosed that the attorneys have also proposed that the CCJ orders the appointment of a new GECOM Chairman and for the Opposition Leader to submit a list of names to the president within a specified timeframe in light of the court’s finding that the unilateral appointment of current office holder James Patterson was flawed and in breach of the constitution.
The proposals were said to have been sent by Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, Jagdeo’s lead counsel, to Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay, who is the government’s lead counsel in the no-confidence case, and Senior Counsel Stanley Marcus, who is representing GECOM in the challenge to the chairman.
Following the court’s findings on Tuesday, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders scheduled a hearing for Monday to hear from the parties on the consequential orders that they desire. The court has expressed its hope that the parties would decide among themselves on the orders to be made.
The court has, however, made it clear that while it intends to have the parties agree on orders, it will intervene and make the necessary orders if they are unable to arrive at any consensus. Justice Saunders said the court does not want to insert itself into that process, but prefers to give the parties a chance to arrive at agreement on their own as to the way forward given the rulings of the court. As Justice Jacob Wit put it, “we are hoping for a happy marriage between principle and practicality.”
Nandlall said last night that the proposals submitted are very specific and leave no space for ambiguity. As part of the proposal, he noted, they are also seeking to have the court allow them to return at any time if the government fails to implement and carry out the orders made.
While government has said it will abide by the rulings of the court, its leaders including President Granger have said that a new national house to house registration exercise is a prerequisite for the holding of credible polls as they say the current voters’ list, which expired during the legal battle over the validity of the motion, is bloated. It has also said that GECOM has the final say on the timeframe for the holding of polls.
Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states, “the Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.
Further, 106 (7) adds, “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”
House-to-house registration
At the panel discussion, which was on the “CCJ’s rulings and its implications for democracy in Guyana,” attorney for Ram, Kamal Ramkarran, who was a part of the panel, indicated that he does not see the need for house-to-house registration at this juncture.
He said it is not constitutionally possible for a voters’ registration of such a magnitude to be undertaken when time is of the essence.
Ramkarran said at a time like this, the best alternative would be to have a short period of claims and objections to allow persons to be added to the voters’ list and remove those who have to be removed.
He noted that should government move ahead with the house-to-house registration, it would be sending a message that “we may no longer be a democratic country.”
Ram, an attorney who challenged government’s failure to resign after the no-confidence motion’s passage, was also on the panel and he shared a similar view. He further noted that notwithstanding government’s concerns that the list could call into question the integrity of the polls, over the years GECOM has spent money putting systems in place to prevent any rigging of elections.
“GECOM has a robust claims and objections period, party polling agents, independent observers, use of indelible ink, and provision of folios to party polling agents and accounting for used and unused ballots. All these measures have been put in place. So, this thing about, ‘we want free and fair elections,’ we’ve had them. What you’re trying to do is to create an unfair and fraudulent election. That’s the whole idea behind this objection to the [no-confidence motion],” Ram said in response to government’s push for house-to-house registration.
Nandlall said that during the CCJ hearing on Monday, they will inform the court of government’s plan to create a new database of voters. He argued that the laws were amended in 2005 to cater for continuous registration as opposed to house-to-house registration.
Both Ramkarran and Ram in their address said if government fails to adhere to the orders given by the court, it will face severe repercussions from the international community.
The motion, sponsored by Jagdeo, was declared passed by Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Barton Scotland following the vote in its favour by then APNU+AFC parliamentarian Persaud on the night of December 21st, tipping the scales in favour of the motion, 33 to 32.
