CCJ affirms Guyana’s no confidence ruling

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled on a trio of cases related to the motion of no confidence that was made in the National Assembly of Guyana on 21 December 2018. In the judgment delivered on June 18, the CCJ declared that the motion of no confidence in the government is valid. Guyana’s constitution states that the cabinet, including the president, is required to resign if the government is defeated by the majority vote of all the elected members of the national assembly “on a vote of confidence”. In December 2018, the leader of the opposition had moved “a motion of no confidence” in the government. Mr. Charandas Persaud, a member of the government, had joined the 32 opposition members in voting for the motion so that 33 members voted in favor of the motion and 32 voted against.

Another provision of the constitution required elections to be held within three months of the defeat of the government on a motion of confidence, unless twothirds of the national assembly determined a longer period before the holding of elections. Despite the speaker of the assembly declaring that the motion had been validly passed, the government neither resigned nor announced impending elections. This triggered a number of legal challenges in the courts in Guyana, which ultimately led to two days of hearings at the CCJ in May 2019. Questions were also raised regarding Guyanese back-bencher Charrandass Persaud’s eligibility to vote in light of his dual citizenship. However, Justice Rajnauth-Lee in her judgment stated that “there was nothing which prevented Mr Persaud from voting in favor of the no confidence motion” and she urged all to bear in mind that the rule of law was an important guiding constitutional principle of a sovereign democratic state like Guyana. President David Granger on Tuesday said that his government “will abide by the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) ruling upholding the December 21, 2018 noconfidence motion.” In an address to the nation following the CCJ ruling, the president said that it is essential that fair and credible elections are held and that this could not be achieved via the current voters roll. “The noconfidence motion in December 2018, and the independent legal processes in the courts that followed it, have been of utmost importance to me and the government. We respect the legal process and the decision of Caribbean Court of Justice as well as the constitution of the cooperative republic of Guyana,” said President Granger. We did not believe that the noconfidence vote was valid and neither did we believe it reflected the will of Parliament or the Guyanese people. We will however accept, and abide by, the Court’s decision.

It is now clear that the Guyanese people need certainty about the future and a way forward. I want to outline a clear path.

It is essential that we hold fair, free and credible elections. We cannot proceed on the current list of voters. It is outdated and corrupted. It may hold as many as 200,000 incorrect entries. What’s more, those who have reached the age of 18 years since the last election are not on it.