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Jul 22, 2014 News
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has seemingly upped the ante in its preparedness to host General Elections. It is now gearing to prepare a list of non-resident voters.
According to a Notice published by GECOM and signed by its Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, the Commissioner of Registration is directed by the Elections Commission to prepare the non-resident electors’ roll from the central register.
The preliminary results of the most recent census, recently released by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards revealed that many people have migrated or relocated.
The directive by GECOM directs that the preliminary list for the elections be prepared.
That notice, signed by Dr. Surujbally, outlined that in pursuance of the powers conferred on the Elections Commission by sections 14 of the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08, the Commissioner of Registration is directed by the Commission to prepare a preliminary list.
The preliminary list is taken from the central register established under section nine (1) of the National Registration Act.
The list contains entries, records of the full names, addresses, occupations and serial numbers of registration records of every person, who is qualified for registration with reference to the October 31, 2014 as an elector for elections to the National Assembly and the Regional Democratic Council.
On Friday, the Alliance For Change (AFC) delivered a letter to President Donald Ramotar, outlining its intent of issuing a No Confidence Motion against Government.
According to the letter, the AFC sees no other alternative than to proceed with this constitutional mechanism “for removal of an unpopular Government that has ceased to enjoy the confidence of the National Assembly.”
The AFC accused the Government of demonstrating unlawful and contemptuous actions and showing disregard for the Supreme Law of the Country.
The ‘action’ being referred to, is the spending by Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh of $4.5B of the $30B that was disapproved by the combined opposition in the 2014 Budget.
The Finance Minister then went ahead and took the monies from the Consolidated Fund without the approval of Parliament.
The Constitutional Fund is the Fund “into which all public monies are placed and out of which all public expenditure should be met, only on the authority of Parliament.”
The Minister, in justifying the legitimacy of the $4.5B expenditure, pointed to Article 218 (3B) of the Guyana Constitution which reads: “If in respect of any financial year it is found that any moneys have been expended for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated for that purpose by the Appropriation Act, or for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by that Act, a supplementary estimate, or as the case may be, a statement of excess showing the sums required or spent shall be laid before the Assembly by the Minister responsible for finance or any other Minister designated by the President.”
This provision, Singh said, had been in the Constitution ever since 1980, and further, a Statement of Excess is not unknown to the political opposition, since over the past two years they would have approved at least 58.9 per cent of the amounts on three Statements of Excess that he has tabled as a result of the various budget cuts.
However, Ramjattan asserted in his letter to the President that the withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund was “unconstitutional” and “unauthorized.”
He said that it is the party’s belief that “such withdrawals as reported in Financial Paper #1 of 2014 are in clear contravention of Article 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana and Section 16 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act [FMAA].
Article 217 of the Constitution says, “All revenues or other moneys raised or received by Guyana (not being revenues or other moneys that are payable, by or under an Act of Parliament, into some other fund established for any specific purpose or that may, by or under an Act, be retained by the authority that received them for the purpose of defraying the expenses of that authority) shall be paid into and from one Consolidated Fund.”
While Section 16 of the FMAA outlines that “there shall be no expenditure of public moneys except in accordance with Article 217 of the Constitution.”
However, while the main opposition party, A Partnership for National Unity, APNU remains “somewhat undecided,” on the issue.
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