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Caribbean Court says Granger’s gov’t in “caretaker” mode, elections must be determined locally

 

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Friday ruled that it is for Guyana’s President, Opposition Leader, Parliament and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to determine when General Elections should be held.

On the appointment of a GECOM chair, the CCJ urged that, as a matter of the greatest public importance, “the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman.” Since the Court’s decision, the Chairman of GECOM, Retired Justice James Patterson voluntarily submitted his resignation.

Regarding the consolidated matters concerning the no-confidence motion, the CCJ noted that there is clear guidance in Article 106 of Guyana’s Constitution on what should happen next. The Court stated, “upon the passage of a vote of no confidence, the Article requires the resignation of the Cabinet including the President. The Article goes on to state, among other things, that notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and that an election shall be held “within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine”.

The Court noted that the filing of the court proceedings in January, challenging the validity of the no-confidence vote, effectively placed matters on pause. The Court reminded, however, that it had rendered its decision on 18 June, 2019. As to the precise orders it should make, the CCJ cautioned, however, that it is not, “the role of the Court to establish a date on, or by which, the elections must be held”. Article 106 is clear and it should be followed, the CCJ stated. The CCJ did express the view that it is expected that the Government will continue as a caretaker for the affairs of the country but that in light of its caretaker role it should be restrained in the use of its legal authority.

In the matter concerning the GECOM chairperson, the CCJ noted that since the Chairman in question had already demitted office, it was unnecessary to issue any orders on this point. However, it was the Court’s view that the appointment process of a new Chairman should be embarked upon with “the utmost urgency” in light of the CCJ’s decision in the no-confidence motion cases which has triggered the need for fresh general elections.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Anan posted:

Basil an his cahoots said they have to fleshlight the meaning of 'caretaker' 

They will reappear from Congress Place today or some future day and stupidly state that they are awaiting clarity of the term caretaker. 

FM
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

FM
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai. The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.   They have won that war.  

Now onto H2H and the will frig the list and disenfranchise thousands of PPP voters.  Then onto the next war.  

The PNC has no intentions of relinquishing power!   The NCV screwed their plans, now they back in track.  

FM
Baseman posted:
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai. The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.   They have won that war.  

Now onto H2H and the will frig the list and disenfranchise thousands of PPP voters.  Then onto the next war.  

The PNC has no intentions of relinquishing power!   The NCV screwed their plans, now they back in track.  

Like i said. Not without a fight.

Sheik101

Base, you are RIGHT but it is up to the Guyanese people, all of us AND the International Community to stop those ANIMALS at all cost. They will get out of their cages and roam into wilderness. It is up to the Guyanese people, all of us and the International Community to stop them at all cost. That is the only world they know: one of violence, inhumanity, illiteracy, ignorance, animalistic instincts and behavior. WE must stop them in this humane, civilized world.

Nehru
Anan posted:

Basil an his cahoots said they have to fleshlight the meaning of 'caretaker' 

Just for curiosity, can you define Presidential form of Government, the category of which Guyana belongs to,

Django
Sheik101 posted:
Baseman posted:
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai. The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.   They have won that war.  

Now onto H2H and the will frig the list and disenfranchise thousands of PPP voters.  Then onto the next war.  

The PNC has no intentions of relinquishing power!   The NCV screwed their plans, now they back in track.  

Like i said. Not without a fight.

Talk some sense. Who they fighting the CCJ??? Geez! Ever heard of Rule Of Law!

Nehru
Baseman posted:
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai.

The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.

They have won that war. 

PNCR/APNU/AFC only have the flexibility to determine when the elections will be held within 90 days -- i.e., by October 13, 2019.

Extension MUST be approved by a minimum of two-thirds of ALL members of parliament.

FM
Nehru posted:

Skont, next thing someone gun ask for explanation of A, B and C!!!!!!!!!!

You can help if you have the ability.

Just for curiosity, can you define Presidential form of Government, the category of which Guyana belongs to,

Django
Nehru posted:
Sheik101 posted:
Baseman posted:
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai. The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.   They have won that war.  

Now onto H2H and the will frig the list and disenfranchise thousands of PPP voters.  Then onto the next war.  

The PNC has no intentions of relinquishing power!   The NCV screwed their plans, now they back in track.  

Like i said. Not without a fight.

Talk some sense. Who they fighting the CCJ??? Geez! Ever heard of Rule Of Law!

Read slowly.  If...the...PNC...was...going..to...relinquish...power...they...would...have...done...so...already. They...are...not...going...to...do...so...without...a...fight.

***** bai.

Sheik101

“There is no other place to hide… “Caretaker” govt. must ensure elections in 3 months – Jagdeo

Jul 13, 2019 News, Source - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-in-3-months-jagdeo/

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, yesterday challenged citizens to call the government “caretaker”.

This was hours after a morning session in the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), where the court stopped short of giving a date for elections, but said that the Constitution of Guyana spells it out clearly that elections have to be held in three months.

https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/images/2019/07/bharrat-jagdeo.jpg

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo

Over the last seven months, the country’s attention has been riveted on what happens next after a shocking no-confidence vote by the Opposition was carried on the evening of December 21st 2018 in the National Assembly.

The Coalition Government, with just four years in office, challenged the validity of the vote.

It went to the High Court, which upheld the vote but ruled that Charrandass Persaud, a government parliamentarian who sided with the Opposition to carry the vote 33-32, was ineligible by virtue of the fact that he had dual citizenship with Canada.

The matter was taken to the Court of Appeal which ruled the vote was not carried and that 34 was the majority of the 65 seats. However, the CCJ in June ruled the vote was carried.

Yesterday, the CCJ issued a number of orders.

The CCJ noted also that it had expressed the view that it is expected that the Government will continue as a caretaker for the affairs of the country but that in light of its caretaker role, it should be restrained in the use of its legal authority.

Yesterday, Jagdeo said that the statements of CCJ on the “caretaker” role of Government is perhaps the most profound of what was rendered and vindicated what the Opposition has been saying all along – that the Government can only prepare for elections.

He said the court actions have paused elections, but following the June 21st CCJ rulings, the pause button has been released and elections should be held in three months – by September.

While noting that the CCJ has not named a date, Jagdeo pointed out that the court has underscored what the Constitution has said – that the Government must resign and only remain as caretakers. It cannot use the period until elections to file other court matters.

“All monkeying around stops,” a charged up Jagdeo told reporters yesterday at his Church Street office.

According to Jagdeo, a former president whose bid for a third term was turned down by the same CCJ, the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM and staffers have to comply with the court orders and the Constitution, and move with the utmost urgency and as soon as possible.

“There is no other place to hide and the court has finally decided.”
The Opposition Leader also made it clear that this government cannot call Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change (AFC) which sits with the Coalition Government as the smaller faction, said it respects and accepts the recent consequential declarations and orders delivered by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“The AFC maintains the court’s position on the appointment of former GECOM Commissioner James Patterson and recognises that it is GECOM and GECOM alone that can determine a date and timeframe for General and Regional elections.”

The AFC said it notes, contrary to the view of the Opposition, that CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders stated clearly “Article 106 of the Constitution invests in the President, the National Assembly and implicitly in GECOM responsibilities that impact on the precise timing of the elections, which must be held, it would not therefore be right for the Court, by the issuance of coercive orders or detailed directives to presume, to instruct these bodies on how they must act and thereby pre-empt the performance by them of their constitutional responsibilities.”

AFC said that it is not, for example, the role of the court to establish a date on or by which the elections must be held or to lay down timelines or deadlines that in principle are the preserve of political actors guided by constitutional imperatives.”

The Alliance For Change further notes that the Caribbean Court of Justice went on to state emphatically that “the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman, this imperative is of utmost urgency.”

According to the party, it strongly reiterates that this process is critical to ensuring public confidence in credible general and regional elections.
“The party therefore urges that consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition must continue so that a new Chairman can be appointed without delay.

Under a new Chairman, GECOM must urgently advise on the earliest date for holding credible elections. The Alliance For Change supports the holding of elections within the shortest possible time frame by GECOM.”

FM
Demerara_Guy posted:

“There is no other place to hide… “Caretaker” govt. must ensure elections in 3 months – Jagdeo

Jul 13, 2019 News, Source - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-in-3-months-jagdeo/

“The AFC maintains the court’s position on the appointment of former GECOM Commissioner James Patterson and recognises that it is GECOM and GECOM alone that can determine a date and timeframe for General and Regional elections.”

The time frame is enshrined in the Guyana Constitution.

Current elections MUST be held within 90 days, i.e., by October 13, 2019.

FM
Django posted:
Nehru posted:

AMEN!! But do not tell dat to the ANIMALS, they will sat Beeh Beeeh Beeeeh

Take a peek   Another Reason to Not Call People 'Animals'

I'm sure if you check his posts you'll see he never refers to Indian people as "animals". He hates Moses and Ramjattan (his right to), but I doubt you'll find a post where he calls them "animals". He has other names for them, nimak whatever and so on.

He reserves the use of "animals" for the PNC. And of course, the PNC is a euphemism for black people, ergo, he is expressing his bigotry that black people  are "animals". The little weasel thinks he's smart but black people who read here know full well what he is up to!

FM
Demerara_Guy posted:
Baseman posted:
ksazma posted:
Baseman posted:

The PNC has lost the battle but won the war.  

The war will be on the battlefield of the next elections. How many 'soldiers' will be willing to fight for their cause then? My guess is that number is dwindling with every passing shenanigan by the Coalition.

That’s a different war bai.

The immediate war was to retain the flexibility of deciding when elections will be held.

They have won that war. 

PNCR/APNU/AFC only have the flexibility to determine when the elections will be held within 90 days -- i.e., by October 13, 2019.

Extension MUST be approved by a minimum of two-thirds of ALL members of parliament.

Keep yapping!!

FM

Elections must be held within 3 months from NCM June 18 confirmation

CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders

CCJ consequential orders

…APNU/AFC Govt in caretaker mode
…GECOM must comply with Constitution

In bringing finality to the legal proceedings on the consolidated No-Confidence Motion (NCM) cases, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Friday ordered that the APNU/AFC coalition Government resign and call general elections within three months of its June 18 confirmation of the passage of the NCM in the National Assembly, in adherence to the constitutional provisions.
Without naming a date for elections, CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders insisted that the Constitution is clear and, therefore, the December 21, 2018 passage of the No-Confidence Motion triggered Articles 106 (6) and (7) which lucidly spells out the date.
Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence”.
Meanwhile, Article 106 (7) states: “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 not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election”.
According to Justice Saunders, there was no need for the Court to gloss over these provisions but it is in fact the responsibility of the constitutional actors to be faithful to the rule of law and operate within parameters of the Constitution.
“Upon the passage of a vote of no confidence, the Article requires the resignation of the Cabinet including the President. The Article goes on to state, among other things, that notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and that an election shall be held within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine”.
Furthermore, the CCJ President noted that with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM also responsible for the conduction of elections, it, therefore, means that the elections body “too must abide by the provisions of the Constitution”.
He went on to point out that elections should have been held on March 21, 2019 following the December passage of the Opposition-sponsored motion, but that process was on “pause” pending the legal proceedings. That process, he added, however, was no longer on pause following the Court’s June 18, 2019 ruling, which upheld the validity of the NCM, thus, triggering the need for fresh elections. This means that General and Regional Elections would have to be held on or before September 18, 2019, to be consistent with the three months constitutional deadline.
However, Justice Saunders, in delivering the consequential orders, posited that Article 106 outlines the precise timing of when polls should be conducted and, therefore, it would not be right for the Court to issue coercive orders or directives to the actors on how they must act in executing their constitutional responsibilities.
“It is not, for example, the role of the Court to establish a date on or by which the elections must be held or to lay down deadlines or timelines that, in principle, are the preserve of political actors guided by constitutional imperative. The Court must assume that these bodies and personages will exercise their responsibilities with integrity and in keeping with the unambiguous provisions of the Constitution, bearing in mind that the No-Confidence Motion was validly pass as long ago as 21st December, 2018”.
Against this backdrop, nevertheless, the CCJ President outlined the cabinet, including the President, should have already been resigned, thus, reaffirming that the APNU/AFC coalition is, in fact, and should be in a caretaker mode leading up to elections.
“Article 106 envisaged that the tenure in office of the Cabinet, including the President after the Government’s defeat, is on a different footage from that which existed prior to the vote of no confidence…By convention, the Government is expected to behave, during this interim period, as a caretaker and so restrain the exercise of its legal authority. It is this caretaker or interim role that explains the three month deadline in the first instance that the Article lays down in principle for the holding of fresh elections,” Justice Saunders stated.
Furthermore, the Trinidad-based regional Court, in its consequential orders, also awarded costs to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and former AFC Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud, whose vote in favour of the Opposition’s motion caused the coalition Government to topple. The CCJ had ruled that while Persaud was ineligible to sit in the National Assembly because of his dual citizenship status, his vote was nevertheless valid.
Additionally, the Court also ordered that Christopher Ram, who approach the Courts to have the Government uphold the Constitution by resigning and call fresh elections, be paid 60 per cent of his cost.
These costs are to be taxed, if not agreed, and will have to be paid by the Attorney General.

K
kp posted:

Elections must be held within 3 months from NCM June 18 confirmation

CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders

CCJ consequential orders

…APNU/AFC Govt in caretaker mode
…GECOM must comply with Constitution

“Article 106 envisaged that the tenure in office of the Cabinet, including the President after the Government’s defeat, is on a different footage from that which existed prior to the vote of no confidence…By convention, the Government is expected to behave, during this interim period, as a caretaker and so restrain the exercise of its legal authority. It is this caretaker or interim role that explains the three month deadline in the first instance that the Article lays down in principle for the holding of fresh elections,” Justice Saunders stated.

Quite clear on the issues.

Clock is ticking on the time frame for elections within 3 months.

FM
TheyIguana posted:
Django posted:
Nehru posted:

AMEN!! But do not tell dat to the ANIMALS, they will sat Beeh Beeeh Beeeeh

Take a peek   Another Reason to Not Call People 'Animals'

I'm sure if you check his posts you'll see he never refers to Indian people as "animals". He hates Moses and Ramjattan (his right to), but I doubt you'll find a post where he calls them "animals". He has other names for them, nimak whatever and so on.

He reserves the use of "animals" for the PNC. And of course, the PNC is a euphemism for black people, ergo, he is expressing his bigotry that black people  are "animals". The little weasel thinks he's smart but black people who read here know full well what he is up to!

What he calls them is completely irrelevant; Granger and his goons lost the no-confidence vote and they are doing their very best as much as they to delay the election and remain in office !!

K
alena06 posted:

Gov’t in caretaker mode should not be paid.  No? Take away their paychecks!! 

Why do you want to take away food from Granger's mouth, Alena? He deserves to be fed good and proper during his time as a caretaker.  

FM

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