This delay could plunge Guyana into a state of constitutional crisis

Jul 14, 2019 Letters

The Caribbean Court of Appeal (CCJ), in a landmark and unprecedented ruling has declared the APNU-AFC administration as a ‘caretaker’ government. One consequence of this ruling is that the Government is now obliged to hold elections before the end of September in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution.

This is indeed a historic moment in Caribbean jurisprudence, the significance of which transcended the boundaries of individual member states. The ruling and accompanying consequential orders have re-asserted the primacy of the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Down the corridors of time this ruling will be remembered as a victory for constitutional rule and, by extension, democratic governance.

It is interesting to see how the current APNU-AFC Government will behave in this new dispensation. One thing is clear, namely, that it cannot be business as usual from a governance perspective given the fact that the CCJ has ruled in unequivocal terms that in the exercise of its functions there are well-defined boundaries within which the government should and should not operate.

It is now obvious that the ‘battleground’ has now shifted from the Courts to that of GECOM. The major stumbling blocks are the naming of a new Chairman and the issue of house to house registration both of which could, if remain unresolved, delay elections way beyond the constitutionally stipulated timeframe and in the process make a mockery of the CCJs rulings and consequential orders. President Granger, in his most recent Address to the Nation, has given the assurance that he is committed to holding elections within the shortest possible time. This, however, seems unlikely given the failure of the parties to arrive at an acceptable list of names. One possible way out of the current impasse and to prevent any further loss of time is to solicit the help of the Commonwealth Secretariat to come up with credible names of persons with experience in the management of elections. Time is of the essence. The longer it takes to have a Chairman on board, the greater the risk of plunging the country into a state of constitutional crisis and political uncertainty which as a country we can ill-afford at this critical conjuncture in time when a brighter future beckons.

Hydar Ally