President David Granger has issued the Proclamations for the dissolution of Parliament and the ten Regional Democratic Councils on December 30, 2019. This will pave the way for General and Regional Elections on March 2, 2020.
The Proclamations were issued yesterday, December 27, 2019, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.
Article 70 (2) of the Constitution of Guyana states that the President, may at any time, by proclamation dissolve Parliament.
It is also provided in Article 61 of the Constitution that an election of members of the National Assembly under Article 60 (2) shall be held on such day within three months, after every dissolution of Parliament as the President shall appoint by Proclamation.
The Proclamation for the dissolution of Parliament states, “ In exercise of the powers conferred upon me by the aforesaid articles, I do hereby dissolve the Eleventh Parliament of Guyana on the Thirtieth day of December, Two Thousand and Nineteen and appoint the Second day of March, Two Thousand and Twenty, as the day on which the election of members of the National Assembly shall be held, the issue and publication of any other Proclamation pursuant to the Constitution in this regard notwithstanding.”
The President had been pressed on several occasions as to when Parliament would be dissolved considering that a motion of no confidence was passed against his government on December 21, 2018. Dissolution of Parliament is usually seen as the formal start of the process leading to elections. Granger had said that dissolution would occur at the right time. With Nomination Day being January 10, 2020, dissolution of Parliament has to occur before that date.
Earlier this month, Granger said that a date had not been set for dissolution. Subsequent to accepting the credentials of new Brazilian Ambassador Maria Clara Duclos Carisio at the Ministry of the Presidency, the president told reporters that there is no need for parliament to be dissolved now. “We discussed this matter at cabinet … and at this stage, there is no constitutional requirement to dissolve parliament,” Granger said.
He added that they were awaiting the advice of the Attorney General but emphasised that no constitutional principles have been breached.
“At present, we have not breached any constitutional principle and when we get that advice, Cabinet will advise me and we will dissolve parliament but there is no need for it to be done now,” the president said.
On a previous occasion, Granger, in relation to the dissolution of parliament, stated that government needed to keep their options open in the event of an emergency. In that case, the National Assembly will be able to deal with the said emergency. It had also been said that Parliament was being kept in play in case there was a requirement for further funding of the Guyana Elections Commission. Observers had however pointed out that this was not necessary as there were various channels open to GECOM for financing.
Parliament last met on May 23rd this year.
