The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday declared the December 21 No Confidence motion was validly passed and the appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), flawed and unconstitutional. Both rulings represent a loss for the Coalition Government in two matters which have significant bearing on the nation’s political future.
Winning Team: From left: Attorneys-at–law Ganesh Hira, Marcia Nadir-Sharma, Anil Nandlall, Christopher Ram, Sase Gunraj and Rajendra Jaigobin.
The CCJ rulings were delivered via Audio/Video link which was live streamed at the Court of Appeal in Kingston. Following the delivery of the judgments, attorneys spoke to media operatives expressing their varying views on the outcome of the cases.
Attorney-at-law, Anil Nandlall who appeared alongside, lawyers Sanjeev Datadin, and Kamal Ramkarran in the cases filed by Zulfikar Mustapha against the appointment of the GECOM Chairman and the consolidated appeals challenging the No-Confidence Motion, expressed his satisfaction in the determination of the final appellate court.
He noted that the ruling represents a triumph for the people of Guyana and victory for democracy.
“Democracy won today and as I have said before, this no confidence motion case should have never been filed. It was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. But I am particularly pleased with the rulings and the fact that the Court has indicated its intention to give effect to the letter and spir
Attorney General Basil Williams engages the press following yesterday’s CCJ ruling.
it of the Constitution.”
In that regard, Nandlall noted that the CCJ has invited the parties involved in the matter to once again meet a consensus.
“If we fail to do so, I believe the court will make coercive orders to ensure that certain matters…the appointment of a new GECOM Chair and the date General Elections are set within a manner as much as possible that is time-prescribed and in accordance with the Constitution.” Nandlall added.
Meanwhile conceding defeat, Attorney General Basil Williams said the Government accepts the ruling of the CCJ.
Williams noted that the final court has spoken and there is no other course of appealing. “The court has knocked us down on every point conceivable.”
He said however that the Government is awaiting the full judgment, which the court promised to send, so that it can read the document and make its decision going forward.
In accordance with the law governing no confidence motions, General elections should have been held within three months after the motion had been passed on December 21, 2018.
As such in delivering the judgment, CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders urged parties involved in the matter, to engage with each other and come up with a consensus that the final Appellate Court can provide consequential orders on a way forward.
Over the past few months, both matters have garnered much public attention given its effect on whether the nation will have early elections. Guyana’s political opposition, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), had moved to the Courts to challenge the ruling Coalition, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), on key decisions relating to governance of the nation. In the first case set for determination by the CCJ the PPP Member of Parliament, (MP) Zulfikar Mustapha, had raised legal arguments against the validity of the unilateral appointment of GECOM’s Chairman.
In the case of the no-confidence motion, the government approached the courts after it was defeated with 33 votes when the then government parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud, voted with the Opposition. The vote was initially accepted by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Government conceded its defeat, but later pursued litigation.
