Opinion

Dear Editor, Numerous contributors have submitted letters in these columns stating that the Constitution of Guyana, Article 106, does not say that an absolute majority is needed to pass a no-confidence vote, so the matter ends there; that is, unless it was the intention of the framers of our Constitution that 34 votes be necessary to legitimize a no-confidence vote.

Dear Editor, It is Day 1 of an executive workshop on the theme “Reversing the Resource Curse” organised by the Natural Resource Governance Institute and the School for Public Policy, Central European University, Budapest. 

The announcement just over a week ago that the first phase of President David Granger’s medical treatment in Cuba for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma has been successfully completed and that his doctors are satisfied with his response to the chemotherapy which he has had to undergo and with his overall physical well-being, is a development that should be welcomed and celebrated by Guyana.

Dear Editor, Tomorrow,  3rd April 40 deaf students will compete in the track & field event at the Guyana Defence Force Ground Eve Leary as part of Deaf Inter-school Sport 2019.

Dear Editor, Guyana has long been lurching from one crisis to another.

Dear Editor, With a forecasted price of manganese (Mn) at $3.2 US per dry metric tonne unit and given that recent prices for some quality Mn could stay around the $6 US mark, the overall government earnings could be substantial for the 26M tonnes available over the projected 12-year period.

Dear Editor, Wikipedia notes that Mr Hamilton Green  “was a member of People’s National Congress and chosen as one of the five Vice Presidents in the cabinet of Forbes Burnham in October 1980.

Dear Editor, My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed the annual Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cricket competition in London each year for at least the last fifteen.

Dear Editor, The split decision by the Court of Appeal overturning two previous rulings affirming the December 21, 2018, No-confidence Motion is a grotesque upending of justice, dressed up in pig-lipstick.

Dear Editor, Did the Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) actually say that the only way they can tap into Fly Jamaica’s deposit (to refund passengers) is if the company shuts down operations?

Dear Editor,  Is there anyone in the PPP who will stand up to Bharrat Jagdeo and not let him pull the strings of the PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali?

Dear Editor, I do not understand why even distinguished lawyers are having protracted arguments about the fact that our Constitution does not use the word “absolute” in describing the type of majority required for the successful passage of a vote of no confidence.  

Dear Editor, Let’s play a game; I did not invent it but the parameters and rules have been set by Guyana’s Court of Appeal (2-1), in this game players add a single word  to an Article of the Constitution then make an argument that this is what the framers intended; it seems a simple and innocuous enough premise and should the recent addition of ‘Absolute’ be upheld by the Caribbean Court of Justice, we can expect decades of fun and fees for the legal luminaries in the jurisdictions that subscribe to that court.

On February 6th, 2019, a subcommittee of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) completed a report into a complaint that had been lodged with it by the three Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) opposition-nominated commissioners that employment practices have been biased and also that Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers had been unfairly selected over the former holder of that position Vishnu Persaud by virtue of the vote of the Chairman, Justice (Rtd) James Patterson.

Dear Editor, A rather unusual event took place on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 – one that raised several questions in my mind.

Dear Editor, I have read statements in the press reportedly attributed to two senior government officials.

Dear Editor, Oil is expected to start flowing in 2020 with oil revenues contributing significantly to Guyana’s Treasury after 2020.

Dear Editor, The legal argument that the vote of no-confidence was so important that an “absolute” majority was needed, appears to have caused two judges of the Appeal Court of Guyana to determine that a majority of two votes was indeed needed.