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FM
Former Member

Mansoor Nadir’s statement on the validity of the no confidence motion shows the PPP is clutching onto straws to hold on to power

AUGUST 27, 2014 | BY  | FILED UNDER LETTERS 

Dear Editor,
So the People’s Progressive Party Civic [PPP/C] is once again out to besmirch the integrity of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) since their man is no longer in charge to “convert the vote counts into seats”  in their favor by using a formula that is alien to the rule of the election law.  He was caught red handed in 2011 and was exposed and criticized for trying to give the PPP a one seat majority  in the House despite the fact that the opposition had obtained 51 percent of the votes cast. One can recall in 2006, this PPP man at GECOM actually stole a seat from the AFC at Linden and gave it to top PPP man in Parliament. So he was caught not once but twice and yet the PPP continues to support his deceitful actions .
Having set the records straight, we are cautioning the public that the PPP/C is up to no good when they claim that they found 18 persons living at the same address in Georgetown and that this is evidence of padding of the electoral list.  What evidence? Who is padding the electoral list? Why is the PPP so paranoid? If the leaders of the PPP do not know that there are dozens of people living in the same dwelling, then they have and continue to ignore the massive poverty they have inflicted on the masses that they have abandoned. Further, their economic policies have not only increased the poverty level among the poor and the working class but have also made their friends and relatives richer and the poor much poorer. This is one of the reasons why the poor have to live in bulk or clusters in one dwelling.
Such clumsy and illiterate statement spewed by none other than the General Secretary of the PPP/C is designed to influence a desired outcome. He seems to be even willing to fabricate stories that fraud is being perpetuated to deny the PPP/C an absolute majority.  Mr. Rohee and his Freedom House gang ought to know that such wicked utterances and electioneering propaganda are unacceptable to the people and GECOM will stand for none of it. Jump high or jump low, statements issued by General Secretary are not credible and the people including their own supporters are fed up with their untruths and corrupt practices. We were reliably informed that the more schooled PPP leaders have distanced themselves from Mr. Rohee’s bunkum statement about padding elections. His focus should be on safeguarding the lives and properties of the citizens of Guyana from the armed bandits and not spreading electioneering propaganda.
If Mr. Rohee believes that making unintellectual statements about the number of people registered to vote or the number of people living at the same address would provide the trappings of legality and legitimacy to support the PPP agenda of bamboozling GECOM and deceive the people, then he is a fool.
It will backfire on the PPP because it is seen as an attack on GECOM’s integrity. And GECOM’s statement that it is ready for both Local Government Elections and General Elections shows that the President does not know what he was talking about when he said that GECOM is more ready for General Elections than Local Government Elections. It would have been much wiser for him to consult with GECOM officials before issuing such wild and reckless statements. But then again, what else can one expect from a regime that is clutching on to straws. The PPP cabal is fully aware that they will be defeated at the polls so they are doing everything in the power not to have elections including Mansoor Nadir’s silly statement that if all 65 MPs are not present in Parliament, then the no  confidence motion is unconstitutional.
The PPP/C today is clearly not interested in one person –one vote or a fair democratic process; they are only interested in obtaining power, rape the treasury and destroy the country’s rain forests. Why would Mr. Rohee claim that 18 people living in the same yard is a cause for alarm? Has he never visited Albouystown or Tiger Bay where in some cases, more than 30 persons collect their mails at one address and where people sleep in shifts because of a lack of beds and rooms due to the massive poverty created by him and the Freedom House gang.  This sort of poverty has become widespread and is now standardized in the ghettos under the PPP/C rule.
But this petty bourgeoisie in the PPP/C Leadership camp are in their Pradoville castles and beach front palaces and thus cannot comprehend that there are very poor and disadvantaged people who live in these sorts of depressed and wretched conditions.  But it is even more disgusting to learn that some in the PPP continue to ignore such a high level of poverty among the masses when in the past they have accused the PNC of doing the same thing. What hypocrisy? They seem to be unaware of the reality of the poor and vulnerable in the ghettos.
This perceived ignorance of the reality on the ground exposes how much the PPP leaders are disconnected from the poor and the working class in Guyana that they cannot fathom that 18 persons live in one yard. The fact that they have become very wealthy overnight and are busy trying to obtain more wealth through the treasury and in the form of kick-backs from contractors prove that they are content to see the poor live in poverty and misery. Shame on them for trying to spin people’s poverty for political convenience.
Asquith Rose and Harish Singh

Replies sorted oldest to newest

The PPP/C today is clearly not interested in one person –one vote or a fair democratic process; they are only interested in obtaining power, rape the treasury and destroy the country’s rain forests.

Mitwah

Nadir has set the cat amongst the pigeons

August 26, 2014 | By | Filed Under Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom 

PPPC’s Member of Parliament, Manzoor Nadir has set the cat amongst the pigeons when he said that in order for a vote of no-confidence against the government to take place, all the elected members of the National Assembly must be present. In other words what he is saying is that if the PPPC members decide to not attend the sitting at which the motion is debated, the vote cannot be taken, and if taken, would be unconstitutional. If the PPPC believes that the vote is unconstitutional, it can seek judicial redress to correct this constitutional misadventure. The implications of this could mean extended legal arguments running into years during which time elections cannot be held. In other words, what Nadir is suggesting is that the government can nullify the no-confidence motion by not attending the debate. Therefore, regardless of whether Nadir is correct or not, the PPP can exercise its right to judicial review of the constitutionality of a no-confidence vote and this review can place on hold any elections. This position by Nadir has been rubbished by one of APNU’s Members of Parliament. The Constitution of Guyana at Article 106 (6) 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.” Nadir has interpreted the phrasing “the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly” to mean that all of the members must be allowed to vote. Or in other words, if the government members do not turn up, the government cannot under our constitution be said to have been defeated by a majority of all of the members. The Courts are the guardians of the Constitution. Anyone who feels that a measure is inconsistent with the Constitution has the option of approaching the Courts for redress. Such an approach on this question would mean that legal proceedings can be dragged out indefinitely, thus placing on hold the requirement that the government should call elections within three months. There has been, as stated, a rejection by APNU of this interpretation. It is contended that all that is required is for a majority of the elected members to support the no–confidence motion and not simply have every elected member present before the vote can be taken. This may sound a plausible explanation, but constitutional interpretation is not as simple as it seems. The interpretation of Article 106 (6) must be read against the background of Article 180 which provides for an investigative mechanism to be activated that could lead to the removal of the President if no less than one half of all the elected members of the National Assembly first signal that the President has committed any violation of the Constitution or any gross misconduct. Under this provision, the Chancellor is required to appoint a tribunal to investigate the charges. If the tribunal finds that the allegations have been substantiated, then it requires a two-thirds majority of all the elected members to force the President to step aside. The relevance of this provision to Article 106 (6) is the standard required to investigate and remove the President for gross misconduct as against the removal of the entire government, including the Cabinet. If to trigger an investigative tribunal whose findings could lead to the removal of the President first requires that one half of all the members of the National Assembly have to first file a complaint then two-thirds of all the members have to vote for the dismissal of the President, how is it then that under Article 106 (6), only a majority of the members and not a majority of all the elected members are required to vote? It is therefore not a simple matter as some would have us believe. But it is an important question on which the Courts should be allowed to pronounce. Guyana’s constitutional democracy would be enhanced by such a ruling, that is a ruling as to whether all the elected members of the National Assembly are required to be present before a vote of no-confidence can be taken.

Mitwah

I say paralyze the country-officially. The ordinary man doan have any need for a government. They doan duh anything for them anyhow.

 

If is chaos the PPP wants, then let them have it. Just maybe the mobs will rush up to Pradoville chase them out. THe French Revolution demonstrated how to deal with the scourge of society.

S

FOR YUJIYAMA:

 

The PPP/C today is clearly not interested in one person –one vote or a fair democratic process; they are only interested in obtaining power, rape the treasury and destroy the country’s rain forests.

 

Source  - ROSE and SINGH

FM

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