A jubilant Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday thanked the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for the professional manner in which it handled the cases stemming from last December’s passage of a no-confidence motion against the government and he once again declared that his party will not be returning to the National Assembly to grant an extension to the three-month election deadline outlined in the Constitution.
Elections, therefore, Jagdeo argued, must be held in three months.
“In its ruling, [the CCJ] sought to preserve something essential in a democratic society…the separation of powers. A cardinal principle of modern democracy is that the judiciary, the legislature and the executive have certain powers that are separate from each other and that there must not be an interference [of] one branch into the other. The ruling, while forceful, guarded that principle faithfully,” Jagdeo told a press conference at his Church Street office.
The CCJ had set yesterday to issue orders based on its findings that the December 21st, 2018 vote of no-confidence against the APNU+AFC administration was validly passed, thereby requiring elections, and that the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was unlawfully appointed. It had asked both sides to make submission by July 1 on what the orders should be.
In his submission prior to yesterday’s session, Jagdeo had asked the court to order the APNU+AFC administration to hold elections no later than 18th September and that the GECOM Chairman be selected within 10 days from yesterday.
However, the court declined to set timelines for the elections and urged that the relevant constitutional provisions be adhered to. In delivering the ruling, President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders, indicated that the court would issue no coercive orders as these would impose upon the constitutionally-mandated functions of the various stakeholders, including politicians.
Jagdeo described the ruling, which indicated that the David Granger administration has a “caretaker” status, as a slap in government’s face, while insisting that it had existed on borrowed time since March 21st.
“The court action hit a pause bottom but that button was lifted when the ruling was issued on June 18th,” he said, before adding that all Guyana should be proud that the CCJ has declared the government a “caretaker.”
“That alone was great for me. If they had said nothing else in the ruling, that would’ve been a major victory. It shows you are only there to hold elections…We are not telling you which date, we are telling you honour the Constitution, which says three months and that you are caretaker until elections are held,” a beaming Jagdeo indicated.
Asked if his party would be willing, in keeping with the provisions of Article 106 (7) of the Constitution, to return to the National Assembly and support a resolution extending the government’s time in office, Jagdeo said no.
“We will not do so because government has acted in bad faith since December 21st…they came up with a bunch of spurious reasons to delay elections…the CCJ has spoken and these articles must be honoured,” he maintained.
He noted that while President Granger has repeatedly stated that the word “caretaker” does not appear in the Constitution, it now appears in the court ruling which the President must respect.
He further argued that the ruling strikes at the heart of Granger’s argument that elections are to be held when GECOM is in a state of readiness.
The provision, he argued, must be honoured with “integrity” according to the court.
