Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire SC will be hearing arguments on Friday afternoon on the request of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that she recuse herself from presiding over the challenge filed to the ongoing house-to-house registration exercise.
At a case management conference late yesterday afternoon, the Chief Justice said she will also hear arguments on the same day on the Attorney General’s (AG) request that the challenge to the ongoing national house-to-house registration exercise by chartered accountant Christopher Ram be struck out.
The judge noted that since the matters all touch and concern each other, she would hear all the arguments on the same day.
At yesterday’s hearing, Justice George-Wiltshire ordered that the attorneys involved in the respective cases file and lay over to the court written submissions no later than 11.30 on Friday morning, ahead of the arguments which are set for commencement at 1.30.
Noticeably present for yesterday’s proceedings was Senior Counsel Stanley Marcus, who, on behalf of GECOM, is asking the Chief Justice to recuse herself from hearing Ram’s challenge.
Justice George-Wiltshire sought to ascertain from Marcus whether it was that Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield had two separate positions, since it was noted that he swore to GECOM’s notice of application to have her not hear the matter filed by Ram, but at the same time is listed as a respondent in the very challenge for which he has submitted an affidavit in defence.
Having brought this to counsel’s attention, the Chief Justice said that she wants to hear arguments on this on Friday as well.
Ram is being represented by a battery of attorneys, including Anil Nandlall and Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran, while the GECOM in its notice of application is being represented by a battery of lawyers, including Marcus.
In the notice of application brought by the AG to have Ram’s matter struck out, Solicitor-General Nigel Hawke and Deputy Solicitor-General Deborah Kumar are representing the state.
In this matter, the Bar Association of Guyana appears amicus and is being represented by attorneys Teni Housty and Sanjeev Datadin.
In his fixed date application, Ram, an attorney and political commentator, argues that the house-to-house registration exercise is being undertaken in violation of the Constitution, which requires the holding of elections within three months of the passage of a no-confidence motion against the government. The motion was passed last December.
Article 106 (6) of the Constitution 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.”
In his notice of application against Ram’s challenge, however, AG Basil Williams argues that Ram’s challenge amounts to an abuse of process as he claims that the issues complained of have already been dealt with by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). He has advanced that in accordance with the principle of res judicata, the matter has already been finally settled by judicial decision and is not subject to further appeal.
Ram’s position is that the registration exercise is in violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the judgment and consequential orders made by the CCJ in the consolidated cases stemming from the passage of a no-confidence motion against government last December.
In its decision of June 18th, the Trinidad-based CCJ, Guyana’s final appellate court, ruled that the passage of a no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government on December 21st, 2018, was valid and that the clear provisions of Article 106 immediately became engaged.
While it has been government’s position that the house-to-house registration exercise is an important prerequisite to the holding of credible elections, both Ram and the opposition PPP/C say it would be in contravention of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, claiming a likelihood of bias, Marcus, in his action on behalf GECOM, is asking that Chief Justice to recuse herself from hearing Ram’s challenge. Nandlall said in a press release on Monday, that Marcus’ application was made on the basis that the Chief Justice previously issued a press release that allegedly contained “certain statements which raise the likelihood of bias” on her part.
