More hints of general elections ahead of no-confidence motion debate…

Call for snap elections is a card in PPP’s hand – Rohee

THE General-Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, is the latest official to hint at the possibility of a call for snap elections, ahead of a debate on the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) no-confidence motion, which was handed over to the Clerk of the National Assembly, last week.Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, last week stated that a call for snap elections from the Head of State during the two-month recess, before the motion is tabled, is not impossible. “Nothing is impossible. I don’t believe it is a question of strategy that determines the response to a no-confidence motion,” Dr. Luncheon had said.
Yesterday, at a news conference at Freedom House, Rohee told the media that the calling of a snap election is an option on the table, a card that remains in the ruling party’s hand.
“We prefer to hold that card close to our chest…it remains an option under active consideration,” he said.
The General-Secretary noted that a move to snap elections or a move for a no-confidence motion, as has been done, has always been two of the options for the political parties to deal with the challenges of the new dispensation in the National Assembly, where the PPP has one less seat compared to the combined Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).
He said, “We have always maintained that in the so-called ‘new dispensation’, we have two options: one for the Government and the ruling party to determine a date for a new election, and the other for the Opposition, by way of a no-confidence motion, to bring down the Government. Those two options are still valid and either of the two could play out in the near future.
“We have already seen one of those options prevailing, which is the no-confidence motion…what is left is the other option and we have that card in our hand that we can put it on the table at any given time.”
According to him, the decision to move towards the calling of snap elections depends on a “host of political” and other factors.
“The party will need to take into consideration whether or not we play that card, as events evolve,” Rohee said.
The General-Secretary highlighted too that the mood of the Guyanese people and their readiness to return to the polls is also under consideration.
“Our level of preparedness does not necessarily have to only do with our structure; the organisation, the mood of the people…all of these are factors that have to be taken into consideration,” he said.
“The PPP is not an electioneering party, but it is always ready, it has to always be ready. We do not go to sleep and wake up like Rip Van Winkle every time the election bell rings; we are there, we have an organisation and we are constantly working to keep the organisation up to scratch….the PPP is always ready. We have to be ready for any eventuality…this is the nature of a political party,” Rohee added.
If snap elections are not called before a debate on the no-confidence motion, the current administration is expected to be disbanded in preparation for a return to the polls.
Section 106 (6) of the Constitution states that: “The Cabinet and President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of the majority of all Members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”
However, the following paragraph, Section 106 (7) makes clear that: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall, by resolution, supported by no less than two-thirds of all elected members of the National Assembly, and shall resign after a new President takes the oath of office following the election.”
The notion of a no-confidence motion was first voiced by the AFC’s Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo, in mid-June. Nagamootoo had indicated that the party was considering the movement of a no-confidence motion against the Government. Nagamootoo, in an article published in the Stabroek News, under the headline ‘AFC considering no-confidence motion against Gov’t’, said such a move is seriously being contemplated by his party. However, he acknowledged that a no-confidence motion would have to be supported by the main Opposition. A few days after, last Friday, APNU endorsed this possibility as a serious consideration.
Opposition leader Brigadier (rtd.) David Granger, subsequently, confirmed APNU’s support for the AFC’s no-confidence motion against the Government.
The first page of the no-confidence motion reads simply, “Be it resolved that this National Assembly has no confidence in the Government.”
The last general elections in Guyana were held in November 2011.

(By Vanessa Narine )

source: Guyana chronicle