Shuman calls on gov’t, opposition to ‘stop playing political chess’
—says constitutional, political crises looming
Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, is calling on Government and the Opposition to exercise political maturity in agreeing on an election date.
Shuman made the call yesterday during the party’s first press conference which was held to make public its position on the ongoing political situation.
“We want to express clearly our dissatisfaction in the government not being able to come to an agreement with the Opposition in terms of setting a date for elections,” the presidential candidate said.
He noted that since the passage of the No-confidence motion in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, Guyana continues to be plagued with uncertainty.
“On the 21st, one politician stood up and showed that one vote can make a difference and I think it is important for all politicians to realize that. However, one of the very terrible things that happened was that it deepened the racial suspicion in Guyana… It also shows the need for us to address the reform of the constitution of Guyana comprehensively,” Shuman said.
“Now if we look at what the constitution says in relation to a no-confidence motion, there is no provision anywhere that stipulates that GECOM has to go and sanitize or unsantitize the list; what it does say in the constitution is that elections will be called within 90 days and based on the legal guidance that we have, that condition is there regardless of what GECOM’s status is, regardless of what the list says, whether it is sanitised or not sanitised , the constitution demands that elections be held within 90 days,” he added.
Shuman further contended that GECOM, an organ that he says should be operating independently and with integrity, has strayed from its mandate.
“They are not operating as a constitutional body, they seem to be taking partisan lines and I say that without reservation. By virtue of the fact that GECOM has not worked by their mandate, it leaves the country in a position where we could see a lot of difficulties, not only nationally but internationally as well. GECOM has a responsibility to the people of Guyana and that responsibility is to act objectively, honestly and with integrity in the nation’s interest and we concede that that is not possible,” the LJP leader posited.
As such, he said that a core principle of the LJP is to “depoliticize” the election body, in order to make it objective and more centred in the interest of the people.
In the meantime, however, Shuman mulled what he considers to be a looming constitutional crisis in Guyana.
“What is going to happen on that fateful day, is that for the first time in Guyana’s history, we are going to have, if not taken properly, a de facto government governing Guyana and I think the nation has to take this very, very seriously. When we start having de facto governments, what is going to happen is that we are sliding into dictatorship and I think that these things need to be dealt with very, very clearly in the interest of the nation,” he said.
“It should not be a political process, I think the parties are looking at what is best for them, but they should sometimes realize