– a book review by Christopher Ram Part 4
Introduction
Chapter 17 is titled Campaign and Elections and reports on the immediate action required to hold the elections following the ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice that the no confidence motion (NCM) in December 2018 was properly passed, the Government had fallen, and elections had to be held. The book does not detail the delay tactics by the APNU + AFC Government to stay in office in a clear violation of the constitutional requirement for elections within 90 days of the NCM, or the validity of legislation purportedly passed by the Government thereafter, matters which as a lawyer could not be alien to Mr. Nagamootoo. Yet, he writes about the triumph of Parliamentary democracy.
The tone of the chapter suggests that things were not too right for him. From his own accounting, while he was sidelined, other Ministers became emboldened following the vote. He tells the story that while acting as president, he was summoned to a meeting in the office of Cathy Hughes Vice Chair of the AFC where the Jamaican advisor and architect of the Cummingsburg Accord – with whom he never seemed to have had a cordial relationship – told him that the Coalition needed “a brand-new slate”.