There are three supreme organs of democratic power in Guyana: The Parliament which is made up of the President and the National Assembly; the President; and the Cabinet. The Cabinet has been dissolved and compliments of the CCJ, the President and his Cabinet are lame duck institutions. Moreover, David Granger’s moral authority has been severely damaged by the patently fraudulent declaration of results by the Returning Officer of Region 4 which the Chief Justice (ag.) has declared unlawful and unconstitutional. Given the opportunity to make amends, the Returning Officer compounded his illegality by what appears to have been fraudulent means. A Contempt Action against him has stalled. Then one of Granger’s candidates brought an action effectively to uphold the fraudulent declaration. That case is being heard by a different judge and Guyanese face the prospects of conflicting decisions from the court.
If the second judge accepts the arguments advanced by the lawyers for Granger’s candidate, the average Guyanese will be totally confused. Such confusion alone, will add to concerns on how the courts can be used to subvert democracy, undermining their confidence in the court system.
Granger discredited the presidency when in an agreement with the Leader of the Opposition, he brought CARICOM officials to supervise the recount only to have the agreement scuttled by his GECOM nominees and by one of his own candidates. We cannot forget GECOM, a constitutional body responsible for the holding of proper elections. It has shamelessly discredited the entire elections by its clumsy and incompetent declaration process, exposing Guyana to imminent, international pariah status.
Then there is the Guyana Police Force whose conduct in a number of events related to the elections has caused the recall of memories of Burnham’s goons – the Rabbi Washington-led House of Israel. With no Parliament, there can be no Budget and heaven knows what the Finance Minister is doing with the Consolidated Fund. So we really have only some basic features of a functioning state still in operation.
I had held the view following the No Confidence Motion (NCM) that Granger’s position as President had become unlawful and by virtue of Article 95 of the Constitution, the Chancellor of the Judiciary ought to have assumed the presidency. The CCJ however, by unfortunate and unnecessary language, gave Granger a respite. The situation concerning Granger’s legitimacy has again surfaced with compelling evidence that he has lost the elections. He is clearly hanging on by way of the shenanigans of his people in GECOM and his Party’s use of the court system.
GECOM’s mandate is to deliver results no later than fifteen days after the elections. It is now twenty-one days since the elections and it seems clear that the results can take weeks and possibly months, before the matter is finally resolved. Following that declaration, there will be a number of steps before the commencement of the Twelfth Parliament. The Minister of Finance will then have three months to present a Budget. There is no guarantee when normal spending will resume. Other constitutional bodies, the public service and state agencies will have to operate on a limited budget – hardly desirable in the first year of oil. Assuming that this is all done under the flawed declaration by the Returning Officer of Region 4, every state agency and public official will have to confront the wider question of their role and relationship with an illegitimate and illegal administration.
In this very grim scenario, some mention should be made of the Guyana Defence Force which is also a constitutional body, though like the other executive arms of the state, not a democratic organ.
The oath taken by officers of the GDF is to “bear true and faithful allegiance to the State of Guyana … and to honour, uphold and reserve the Constitution”. One of the insertions to the 1980 Constitution made as part of the Herdmanston inspired constitutional reforms was Article 197A which is reproduced below:
“(1) The State’s defence and security policy shall be to defend national independence, preserve the country’s sovereignty and integrity, and guarantee the normal functioning of institutions and the security of citizens against any armed aggression.
(2) The Defence and Security Forces shall be subordinate to national defence and security policy and owe allegiance to the Constitution and to the Nation. The oath taken by members of the Defence and Security Forces shall establish their duty to respect the Constitution.
(3) The Guyana Defence Force established under the Defence Act shall in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities function in such a manner as to earn the respect and enjoy the confidence of citizens.”
Quite what the defence and security policy of Guyana is, is not set out in any single document but I draw guidance from an autographed copy of Granger’s book National Defence – A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force. At page 39, under the caption Power, Granger’s opening words were “A major influence on defence policy – the constitutional factor – was derived in theory, from the House of Assembly and the Council of Ministers”. I rely on this not only because Granger has occupied the position of President, but also because Granger was the political commissar in the GDF during Burnham’s tenure. He must be taken to understand the concept and operation of the country’s defence and security policy and the GDF’s duty to carry out that policy set out in post-Burnham changes to the Constitution.
The Guyana Defence Force has its own Act: the Defence Act Cap. 15:01. That Act is of course subordinate to the Constitution but it does provide for a Defence Board which includes many of the offices which have now become constitutionally and legally suspect, including the President and the Prime Minister. While the Act vests broad powers in the Defence Board, it also contains specific express and implied exceptions reserved for GDF.
Commendably, the GDF has maintained a respectful silence over what might have been seen as a civilian matters. It has to be pointed out however, that the installation of any administration under a tabulation process widely regarded as rigged by both domestic and international observers, will cease to be a civilian matter – it goes to the root of our Constitution. In that scenario, it would be difficult to see how the GDF can continue holding to the view that the matter remains a civilian issue and still “earn the respect and enjoy the confidence of citizens.”
The possibility of Guyana ticking all the boxes of a failed state is becoming more likely. Making the unwelcome threat of sanctions all the more real.
