Combined Opposition denies polling Bharrat Jagdeo

…says he can never return as President 

Shadow Legal Affairs Minister and Executive Member of A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), Basil Williams, has denied that the coalition conducted any poll with regards to the former President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

Over the past two days the state owned Guyana Chronicle and the newspaper owned by Jagdeo’s best friend, Dr Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, published two articles suggesting that APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) conducted a poll which determined that Jagdeo is favoured to be the front runner at the next General Elections.
Williams in dismissing the notion, said that the Opposition would have nothing to gain by conducting such a poll and further, APNU’s interpretation of the Constitution is that he (Jagdeo) can never return as President.
Under the Guyana Constitution, “A person elected as President after the year 2000 is eligible for re-election only once.”

Jagdeo demitted Office in 2011 after he was re-elected President at the 2006 elections.
Polls are generally self serving, according to Williams, who stated that the accusations that APNU conducted any such poll would only be propelled by persons such as Ramroop who would have benefitted tremendously under Jagdeo’s presidency and would want to see him reinstated.
He pointed to the current environment in Guyana with the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill as possible motives.
The Guyana Chronicle in its article yesterday said, “According to well-placed sources, former President Bharrat Jagdeo is the one most favoured to be the PPP/C presidential candidate for the next General Elections, particularly given that election fever is in the air, brought on by the ongoing gridlock in the National Assembly…The source noted that a poll conducted by the combined Opposition has revealed that in terms of popularity, Jagdeo is way ahead of candidates from both A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).”

According to Williams, even Jagdeo’s party had pronounced on his inability to again run for Presidency.
Meanwhile the AFC’s Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo yesterday in an invited comment yesterday denied his party undertook any such poll and called the assertions a “manufactured rally for an unpopular and discredited fellow.”
He said that for elements to try to dignify that such a poll was the work of the AFC is a futile attempt.

According to Ramotar such a move represents the deep seated division within the Peoples Progressive Party Civic where an attempt is being made no to inject Jagdeo back into the political arena.
He suggested that it is not surprising to see the manufactured rally behind Jagdeo firstly coming out of the newspaper owned by his “sidekick,” namely Bobby Ramroop.
Nagamootoo reiterated however that what must be paid attention to is the deep seated division now so evident within the PPP.
Meanwhile asked about Jagdeo’s ability to run for another term as President, Nagamootoo said that he was chairman of the Constitutional Reform Commission at the time when the limitations to two terms were inserted.

According to Nagamootoo, it is clear that a person cannot be President for more than two terms
The most recent pronouncement from Government on whether he can return as President came when Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, dismissed the notion of Jagdeo returning for a presidential bid.
Luncheon, in December last year asserted that it is not a feature that is embraced by the current Donald Ramotar Administration.
“I think it will be fair to say that the intent behind a term limited presidency embraced by this Administration, does not allow us opportunities to exploit loopholes…It is definitely not a feature for us, maybe some other jurisdiction or some other Government, but the intent of term limited presidency that we agreed to, we will continue to embrace,” Dr. Luncheon told the media.

Senior Counsel and Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarrran, in his weekly column, had noted that there might be a loophole in the Constitution, giving former Presidents another term to rule, having already served two consecutive terms.
Ramkarran was a long standing member of the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), up until he resigned after a fall out with the party.
Ramkarran had pointed out that the provision in the Constitution that prescribes term limits for Presidents does not use the word “consecutively” and this has given rise to speculation that it allows a President to serve only one term or two consecutive terms and return after a lapse of one or more terms and seek re-election.
He said that this speculation turns on the meaning of the word “re-election” in the provision.

Ramkarran explained that since “a re-election can only come immediately after an election, therefore re-election means re-election to a second consecutive term.”
In his interpretation of the provision said, “A re-election cannot come after a lapse of one or more terms because that would be an election…Since a President can only be re-elected only once, it means that he can only serve two consecutive terms at one time.”
As such he concluded that, “the provision does not preclude a President being elected again after a lapse of one or more terms as this would be an election and not a re-election.”