Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday maintained that the PPP/C would not agree to extend the period for general elections under clause 106(7) of the constitution.
President David Granger on Wednesday evening announced that the earliest date for the holding of elections is March 2nd, 2020, and that government would have to seek an extension to facilitate it in the National Assembly. However, by yesterday morning Granger had modified his position and said March 2nd was a fixed date for the elections with or without the support of the opposition for an extension.
The support of the opposition would be required in order for an extension of the three-month period to be granted, as it requires the votes of at least two-thirds of the elected members of the National Assembly, but the PPP/C had previously said it was out of the question.
Speaking yesterday after Granger had modified his position, Jagdeo argued that government is seeking to extend its tenure in an effort to legitimise unspecified “criminal” and “corrupt” acts he says it has engaged in since the successful passage of the no-confidence motion against the administration last December.
Further, he decried what he sees as an attempt by Granger to add a new criterion to the process of proclaiming a date for elections. For months, Granger has maintained that he could not proclaim a date for elections until the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) indicated its readiness. On September 19th, GECOM Chairman, Justice Claudette Singh, informed Granger that the body would be ready to hold elections by late February, 2020.
In an address on Wednesday night, however, Granger said “the extension of a period beyond three months for the holding of elections is related to (GECOM’s) readiness to hold elections,” while adding that “the Government of Guyana must, as a consequence, return to the National Assembly to request an extension.”
Despite his doubts about the holding of the polls in the absence of the issuance of an official proclamation for elections, Jagdeo said that the countrywide protests which were planned to pressure Granger to fix an election date will cease, and be put under continuous review.
Over the last two weeks, the president has faced local and international pressure to name a date for general and regional elections.
Last Thursday, the US, UK, and European Union missions in Guyana declared that the government was functioning unconstitutionally by failing to hold elections by September 18th. Last Friday, the Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association also accused the government of operating unconstitutionally, and adverse to the determination of the Caribbean Court of Justice in the no-confidence motion appeals.
