Sanjeev Datadin, the attorney for Charrandass Persaud in the no confidence motion case on Friday expressed disappointment with the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), stressing that it was not what they were looking for.
Speaking to reporters outside of the Guyana Court of Appeal where the judgment was read live via video conferencing from the Court’s headquarters in Port of Spain, Trinidad, he said “The court has left a lot out.”
Making reference to efforts by the representatives of the two political leaders to finalize a list of six names for the Chair-man of GECOM, the attorney said that those negotiations were futile and lacked seriousness.
“If you keep sending representatives to select the names then it still has to go back to the principals. How do we know if the principals have agreed to (them)? We are disappointed that what the court didn’t do was be firm,” he added.
According to Datadin, under Guyana’s constitution the court has the power to issue such writs, give such directions and make such orders. “So unfortunately…[it’s] likely a position where you have won the battle but you have lost the war because the court has not done what it should have done in terms of laying clear guidelines.”
Acknowledging that the court wants to refrain from setting guidelines and not interfere in politics, he said that it has to be done as the political leaders are not making headway and this would lead to the people of Guyana suffering. “We have no Chairman of [the] Elections Commission. How are going to go about appointing that? They (CCJ) say well you must use utmost good faith [but] what does that mean to the average man in the street?”
He said that presently there is a situation where the president believes he can nominate names for the post. “How preposterous is that? If he is going to nominate names, then who is he going to pick? It’s not very difficult to figure that out,” he added.
Datadin pointed out too that no timelines for the holding of elections were given. “Elections should be within three months of the date of the decision. The decision was June 18 [so] it should have been by 18th September.”
Asked what is supposed to happen next, Datadin said that what the court is saying now is that the parties should use their best efforts to make sure what is to be done is done. “Where that will end, I don’t know?”
Act in accordance
Attorney Neil Boston SC, who had approached the court to challenge Charrandass Persaud’s eligibility to vote given his dual citizenship told reporters that one expects the constitutional players will act in accordance with the law.
Asked if the court’s ruling indicated that elections should be held within three months, he said “I don’t read it as that.” When pressed, he indicated that the court had said that after the proceedings were filed, things were at a standstill. “Those were issued for the constitutional players. The court says that a date for fixing elections is not an issue for the court, it’s an issue for the politicians,” he said.
His counterpart, attorney Robert Corbin reiterated that the CCJ is the highest court and has made a “clear and precise” ruling and it is now for the actors, who have heard the judgment to act accordingly.
He said that in this case it is the Leader of the Opposition and the President, who determine how soon a GECOM Chairman will be in place and for the Opposition Leader, the President and the Parliament of Guyana to consult with the Elections Commission as they ought to do. He reminded that the constitution also prescribed what needs to be done for the holding of elections. “It’s for everyone to follow that and as the court said it is expected that those who have to exercise constitutional authority will act in accordance with the constitution,” he added.
Asked what happens if outstanding issues are not resolved in three months, he said
that the court itself acknowledged that the introduction of these proceedings meant that until June the matter was very fluid and there was no decision on which they could act. “So it is only from June that we will say that time will begin to …now that the decision has been made for the constitutional actors to understand the very clear position,” Corbin added.
When pressed, Corbin said that all questions on the next step ought to be forwarded to the constitutional players as they were merely attorneys representing them. “Those questions are for the president, the Leader of the Opposition, maybe even the Attorney General and the new GECOM Chair. We can’t really comment on those matters. We can only tell you what the court has ruled. We have done our job and its now for the politicians to do theirs.”
Meanwhile, PPP nominated GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj told reporters that the ruling said that the no confidence motion was validly passed and as such the natural consequence of that is that elections should be held within three months. “It is my expectation that we will start planning for an elections now, immediately,” he said. Asked if this could be done without a Chairperson, he said that there are steps that can be taken by the Secretariat before expressing hope that the persons responsible for choosing such a person will act swiftly and “have the post filled so that the … business of the state can go on.”
