Georgetown – Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire (Ag) ruled on January 31, 2019 that the no-confidence motion against the Guyana government passed in the National Assembly on December 21 last year, is indeed “lawful and valid”.
In upholding the validity of the vote the acting Chief Justice said that this should have triggered the immediate resignation of the Cabinet, including the President, paving the way for new elections within three months unless an extension is agreed upon by a two-third majority of the House, as per the Constitution.
But the ruling coalition A Partnership for National Unity has stated that it intends to challenge the ruling all the way to the country’s highest court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), if necessary.
And while doing so, they are claiming that “until the matter is concluded at the highest court of appeal the status quo remains and the business of government continues as usual.”
But this action flies in the face of the decision of the judge not to grant Attorney General Basil Williams a Conservatory Order preserving the “status quo ante.”
The Chief Justice ruled on the three cases related to the validity of the motion – which the government lost 33-32 when one of its backbenchers, Charrandass Persaud, voted with the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
Among the arguments advanced by the government in challenging the vote, was that an absolute majority of 34 – half of the number of members in the 65-member National Assembly, plus one – was needed for the motion to carry.
The Chief Justice rejected that argument, saying that 33 constituted an absolute majority, and the President and Cabinet ought to have resigned immediately after the passage of the motion. “This court cannot set aside or defy a ruling that was validly made,” she said.
“The no confidence motion is carried, the requisite majority is obtained by a vote of 33 to 32. The President and the Ministers can’t therefore remain in government beyond the three months within which elections are required to be held in accordance with Article 106 of Article 7, unless that time is enlarged by the National Assembly in accordance with the requirements of said Article 106,” she said, adding that the government should remain in office until elections are held and a new President sworn in.
Another one of the grounds for the challenge to the no-confidence vote was that Persaud has dual citizenship and was therefore not eligible to be a sitting member of the National Assembly.
Justice George-Wiltshire (Ag) ruled that it is unconstitutional for Members of Parliament to have dual citizenship. Therefore, she said, Persaud, who has citizenship of Canada is “not qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly by virtue of his own act and acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience and adherence to a foreign power…in contravention of the Constitution of Guyana”. However, she said Persaud’s dual citizenship did not invalidate the results of the vote.
She also said that although Persaud should have informed the Speaker of the House that he had decided to break ranks with the list of candidates from which he had been selected, he had not ceased being a parliamentarian.

Kingston, Jamaica – Police are investigating the murder of an Opposition Member of Parliament who was found dead in his home. The body of People’s National Party (PNP) MP for Portland Eastern, Dr Lynvale Bloomfield, was found with multiple stab wounds last Saturday morning. It was the 59-year-old’s housekeeper who made the discovery.
According to reports, police believe the medical practitioner was tortured by his attacker, but they are yet to determine a motive or the circumstances surrounding the killing.
Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips said in a statement that the PNP was shaken by the death of the politician who was first elected MP in 2011 and then re-elected in 2016.
He said Dr Bloomfield had devoted many years of his life in service to the Jamaican people as a medical practitioner and as an elected Member of Parliament.
“No Jamaican should ever have to suffer at the hands of criminals in their own country. The death of Dr Bloomfield must not be allowed to go unpunished. The police must employ whatever resources that are necessary to conduct a full and complete investigation, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” Dr Phillips said.
“This is indeed a very sad day in the history of our country as we are now dealing with the stabbing death of a sitting member of parliament in his home by unknown assailants,” Dr Phillips said.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness also paid tribute to Dr Bloomfield, describing him as an MP who looked out for his people. In a statement, he described Dr Bloomfied as “a very gentle and humble man and one of the nicest human beings I have encountered in politics.”
The Prime Minister said he has received a preliminary report from the police who have assured him that they have mobilized a high powered team of investigators to determine the circumstances of Dr Bloomfield’s death.