Members of civil society were yesterday left flabbergasted when a promised engagement with President David Granger proved to be less than expected as he delivered a prepared speech to make the case that his government is not delaying the holding of due elections and then abruptly left those who had gathered at his request.
“I felt that I would have at least been given the opportunity to make a comment because I have my concerns,” veteran trade unionist and General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis told reporters following the president’s almost 30-minute long presentation at the Baridi Benab at State House in Georgetown.
The president also delivered the same speech to members of the diplomatic community at a separate engagement at the same venue. (The media was not invited to that engagement.)
On both occasions, he stressed that the legal processes initiated by government following the December 21st no-confidence vote against his government were neither frivolous nor calculated to delay the consequences of the vote.
“They sought to explain more clearly and to interpret certain provisions of the Constitution,” he stressed before arguing once again that the July 12th ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) also gave a role to the president in identifying persons for consideration as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
In upholding the validity of the no-confidence motion, the CCJ said the clear provisions of Article 106 of the Constitution immediately became engaged. Article 106 (6) says 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. Article 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 elections.”
Government, however, has said Cabinet is continuing to function in apparent defiance of the constitution.
Representatives of the labour unions and the business community were among those who accepted the president’s invitation to civil society yesterday.
Afterward, President of the GTUC Coretta McDonald said she was shocked that no opportunity was provided for questions to be asked.
“We came here with the expectation that we were going to be able to ask questions and to have some other issues being clarified but the intention of the president was not to answer questions,” she said.
While McDonald declined to disclose the questions she came prepared to ask, she repeatedly stressed that GTUC members who represent a large section of the population have questions.
“While clarification was brought to some of the issues, we were left like halfway, we were shocked. The thing is we represent quite a lot of this population and our members they are asking questions and if we have no answers to give them then you can imagine what is going to happen,” she said, before adding that there is currently a lot of tension in communities and civil society must be able to quell it. “If you don’t have the forum to ask questions, then clarifying for members and quelling the tension will take just about a little longer. We have to now seek other avenues to ask questions so that they can be further clarified,” McDonald added.
Meanwhile, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer expressed concern about the president’s claim in his speech that there is no timeline nor deadline for elections, especially in light of a statement from the High Court, which maintained that the consequential orders of the Caribbean Court of Justice indicate that elections be held by September 18th, 2019, or such longer period as the National Assembly determines.
“It causes some concern because there are two conflicting interpretations. That’s something I want to discuss with more people and get some more opinions,” he said
Courts cannot direct poll date
During his presentation, President Granger maintained that only GECOM can determine a timeline for elections.
“The Elections Commission has total control over the elections process. The independence of the Elections Commission is safeguarded by the Constitution. It is insulated from political influence, instruction and interference. The president cannot influence, the president cannot instruct, the president cannot interfere, the president cannot tell the Elections Commission when elections must be held neither can the courts,” he claimed, before adding that the CCJ issued no coercive orders and therefore government is not in contravention of the orders of the court or of the constitution.
“There is no date issued by the CCJ, there are no timelines, there are no deadlines,” the president stressed.
This claim came in for swift criticism from members of the opposition People’s Progressive Party.
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, in a Facebook post immediately after the engagement, stressed that “the Judiciary is the guardian of our Constitution.”
“In this regard, it is possessed of an unlimited jurisdiction and power to make such orders, grant such writs and issue such directions, that are necessary, to each and every organ of State, to obey and comply with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, in giving effect to the supremacy of the Constitution; as all are subject and subservient to, and none is above, the Constitution,” he explained.
Using the recently contested “Third Term” case as an example, Nandlall noted that if Granger, as Executive President, were to attempt to contest for a third term after serving two terms as president, the judiciary would have the jurisdiction and power to prohibit him from so doing because the Constitution does not permit it.
“Similarly, the Judiciary can compel the President to issue a Proclamation fixing elections for a date not exceeding 18th September 2019, because that is required by the Constitution. Then by what process of logic can the Judiciary not compel GECOM to hold election in compliance with the Constitution?” he asked.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, on his own Facebook page, reminded that the 2001 general and regional elections were actually held as a consequence of a Court Order.
“It’s impossible to take a President who is so ill-advised seriously. He should familiarize himself with the Esther Perreira case in which the court actually ordered elections by a certain date. In this case the Constitution sets the timeframe for elections when a government is defeated on a vote of no confidence. GECOM was a party to the proceedings in the court and the CCJ orders are binding on it,” Jagdeo said in a post.
Both Nandlall and Jagdeo interpreted the president’s comments as an attack on the judiciary.
“I interpret his comments as intending to intimidate the Judiciary and [it] reveals an authoritarian instinct. The president who says he respects the rule of law is now telling a separate, independent branch of government what it cannot do,” Jagdeo claimed, while Nandlall noted that it is common knowledge that this very issue is pending before the Chief Justice in ongoing litigation before asking whether the president was trying to direct or intimidate the learned judge.
“GECOM is a Constitutional Commission like every other Constitutional Commission. The Judiciary makes orders directing similar Commissions like the Police Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, and indeed every Constitutional Agency, Constitutional Officer, or Public Officer, on a routine basis, to obey and comply with the Constitution, or the ordinary laws of the land,” Nandlall concluded.
