APNU must support the no – confidence motion

…or answer to supporters – Ramkarran   

“If APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] contemplates declining support for the motion, it will have to decide what it will tell its supporters when they ask why APNU would want to keep a PPP/C Government in office. If APNU cannot figure out a response to such a question, then we might have an election on our hands.”

Ralph Ramkarrran

This is according to former Executive of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran. Writing on his website conversationtree.org Ramkarran pronounced on the no confidence motion which the Alliance For Change (AFC) has formally signaled its intent to proceed with via a letter to the President. He spoke to the cause of the AFC signaling its intent to move forward with a no confidence motion, that being the tabling of a Statement of Excess in the National Assembly by the Finance Minister outlining that “some $4.5 billion out of the $37 billion disapproved by the National Assembly last April have since been spent.” He said, “Over the declared objections of the Opposition, and their expressed intention not to support the Government, an impassioned debate has erupted over the legality of the expenditure and the meaning of article 218(3) of the Constitution on which the Government has placed reliance.” Article 218(3) of the Constitution states, “If in respect of any financial year it is found that any moneys have been expended for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated for that purpose by the Appropriation Act or for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by that Act, a supplementary estimate, or as the case may be, a Statement of Excess showing the sums required or spent shall be laid before the Assembly by the Minister responsible for finance or any other Minister designated by the President.” Ramkarran articulated, however, that “there is no express authority contained in these words to authorize the Minister of Finance to spend monies, which I assume has been the argument of the Opposition. “The government, no doubt, is relying on an implied authority but it has not yet explained from precisely which words and how such an implied authority is to be extracted.” He said, “There is also a statement by Chief Justice Chang in the Budget Case which the Government relies on as supporting its interpretation of article 218(3). But the statement merely relates to the application of the article and makes no reference to any power of spending that the article might have conferred on the Minister. “If there are elections and the issue assumes importance, and is not merely the casus belli for the AFC, the public might be afforded a more detailed explanation of the implications of article 218(3).” The former Speaker of the National Assembly made mention of APNU not taking a position on the no confidence motion but outlined that the “Opposition Leader David Granger had stated quite clearly that APNU was ready for elections if called.” He said, “It is not known what considerations would now prevail in determining whether or not to support the AFC’s proposed motion. Surely one factor would have to be the enormous resources which would have to be raised for elections. “In the absence of a credible explanation to its financial backers of how elections at this time will resolve the political stalemate in the country, raising adequate funds may pose a problem.” According to Ramkarran, the proposed no confidence motion could not have come as a surprise to the Government. “In circumstances such as these anywhere in the world, Governments do not survive. There is a minority government in office, without a commitment of support from any section of the Opposition. There is also no compromise on any significant issue engaging the attention of the National Assembly.” Ramkarran outlined the no confidence motion in Article 106(6) the Constitution which provides that “the Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by a vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.” Further, that Sub-article (7) states that “notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months…” He contends that the issue is not merely the elections if it happens, “The issue is what happens after. There would hardly be a problem if the PPP/C wins an absolute majority. But if the PPP/C wins only a plurality as in 2011, as many observers expect, would the same stalemate and gridlock continue, with more years of marking time and no progress in the country? “All right-thinking people will recoil at the thought!”