Govt nixes snap elections

President Donald Ramotar

… before No-Confidence Vote

With a No-Confidence Motion against the Donald Ramotar Administration looming, Government has ruled out the possibility of calling snap elections before the motion is taken to the National Assembly for debate and the inevitable hosting of General Elections that is likely to follow.

This was announced by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon on Wednesday at the post-Cabinet briefing. Dr Luncheon, in essence, told reporters that the ruling party prefers to allow the motion to pass through the National Assembly and defend its political record.

“We are summonsed to a trial by the Parliamentary Opposition, addressing charges that lead to a question of loss of confidence – no confidence – and I don’t believe when you are summonsed to trial of that sort – one, you can say you ain’t turning up! You don’t have a choice, you have to participate and we will be there to defend the track records of this Administration in Parliament and in the rest of Guyana, regionally and internationally,” the HPS exclaimed.

He went on to say that there is no escape clause for Government, as he dismissed the notion that the Administration will counter the likely outcome of a no-confidence vote by opting to call “some snap elections”.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon

About a month ago, the minority Opposition party, Alliance For Change (AFC), filed a No-Confidence Motion against Government and it was accepted by Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman. The motion, which also gained the support of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which holds a 26-seat majority on the Opposition benches, is set to be debated in the National Assembly when it comes out of recess on October 10.

Illogic

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Secretary pointed out that it was not logical to host both the Local Government Elections and General and Regional Elections at the same time. Dr Luncheon noted that the decision of which elections would be held will factor in all sides of the equation into consideration.

“It is Cabinet’s contention that both General Elections and Local Government Elections cannot be held at the same time and, therefore, the decision on the primary attention to be given on either is essentially the basis for the uncertainty,” Dr Luncheon stated, adding that both the Administration and the political Opposition are well aware of those factors that would provide the information which will allow either side to be more inclined to have Local Government Elections as opposed to General Elections as the primary electoral event in any electoral calendar.

In the meanwhile, the Cabinet Secretary stated the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and other stakeholders seem to be in a state of preparedness for General and Regional Elections as opposed to Local Government Elections, which APNU is pressing for.

Opposition Leader David Granger

On this note, the Cabinet Secretary referred to the letter sent by Opposition Leader David Granger to President Ramotar, giving him an ultimatum to set a date for Local Government Elections before September 15, or else both local and international actions would follow. The letter was sent to the President on September 9 and he responded seeking clarifications on the contents a few days later. The deadline has passed; no date has been set; and Granger has promised actions will follow.

Dr Luncheon noted that Granger is yet to provide the clarifications the President is seeking on the contents of the letter regarding his position on elections. “Mr Granger has not as yet put pen to paper and attempted a response to the President’s request, but Cabinet did note efforts…displayed prominently in the media and in our communities of character that seems to suggest APNU intends to have its cake and eat it; that on the face, both Local Government Elections they are the champions and they are party with AFC in a no-confidence motion,” he pointed out.