The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is calling on President David Granger to set a date for elections immediately and yesterday said its members are prepared to continue protesting until a date is named even as it has again ruled out returning to parliament to extend the life of the government.
The pronouncements were made at a press conference where PPP officials said that immediately following the timeline put forward by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Granger should have announced a date for the elections. GECOM Chair Claudette Singh on Thursday informed Granger that the commission would be ready to conduct elections by the end of February 2020.
The PPP officials who presented at yesterday’s press conference were Gail Teixeira, Juan Edghill, Joe Hamilton, Peter Ramsaroop and Nigel Dharamlall.
According to Edghill, the country is now in a political and constitutional crisis and members of the party will be protesting for the freedom of the people, their rights and for democracy.
Hamilton said that protest actions which took place on Thursday were just the first of many if a date is not immediately announced by Granger. He added that their purpose is to highlight “the undemocratic nature of one Mr Granger and his cabal, the unconstitutional role of one Mr Granger and his cabal and the illegitimacy of one Mr Granger and his cabal.” According to Hamilton, they will not allow a dictatorship to reign in Guyana and he implored that all Guyanese stand up.
The party member further stated that everywhere the president and his ministers go, they will be met with protests as he claimed that they have no mandate to govern and are holding on to office illegally.
Dharamlall, meanwhile, called on citizens to stand up and fight for democracy as he claimed that the coalition government is fearful of free and fair elections, even as he said that Granger has disrespected the Constitution.
According to Edghill, what they are looking for is the immediate announcement of a date for the election by the president. He said that at a PNC press conference held yesterday, one of their party members, Gary Best, said that the president will name a date for elections imminently.
“We’re not asking for a date imminently. The demands of the Constitution and the demands of the citizens of this nation…is that you name a date for elections immediately,” Edghill said.
Teixeira, who chaired the press conference, charged that Granger is continuously “moving the goal post” and is placing the blame on GECOM for the setting of an elections date. “First, it was a date for when you’re ready, then he moves it to the certificate of readiness he’s [talking] about,” she said. According to Teixeira, Granger is going back to blaming GECOM as an excuse for delaying the elections.
“We all know that it is only the president who can name a date for elections. All GECOM was asked to do was to advise when they’re prepared,” she said.
Asked about the possibility of extending the life of the government through parliament, Teixeira responded that “Parliament is dead.” The PPP executive said that at a meeting with Granger in March, they were willing to extend the life of the government if he had agreed to have elections on or before April 30th.
“When we met with Granger…Mr Jagdeo put to him that we were willing to give the two thirds [majority required] if he held elections on or before April 30th. We went on March the 9th with that and the reaction of Mr Granger was silence. It was not even something that he was willing to say a word on,” Teixeira said. She added that the opportunity to return to parliament has therefore been lost. According to her, there is no recourse back to parliament as the president and executive are “illegal.”
