Georgetown – As expected, the December 21, 2018 no-confidence vote in the Guyana National Assembly which resulted in the defeat of the APNU+AFC coalition government and generated a great deal of noise, has ended up in the High Court.
Lawyers for the government have filed submissions in the High Court regarding its challenge to the ruling of the Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland – that the motion of no-confidence debated on December 21, 2018, was carried by a vote of majority by all elected members.
Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams SC has submitted to the High Court that parliamentary precedent and practice establish that an “absolute majority” of 34 or more votes of the elected members of the National Assembly were needed for the government to be defeated on the recent no-confidence motion
The AG also argues that the provisions set out in Articles 106(6) and 106(7) of the Constitution, which provide for the holding of new elections within 90 days upon the success of a no-confidence motion, are inconsistent with Article 70(3), which provide for a five-year term for the government and therefore the resolution is void.
With his application, which lists Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Barton Scotland and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo as the respondents, Williams has asked the court for orders to stay the enforcement of the motion and enable President David Granger and all his ministers to remain in office. In addition, Williams has asked the court for a conservatory order to preserve the status quo ante that the President and all Ministers of the Government remain in office until the hearing and determination of questions surrounding the legality of the vote.
Scotland declared that the motion was carried after then government Member of Parliament (MP) Charrandass Persaud voted with the opposition. Among the seven questions Williams has asked the court to determine is whether the motion upon a division vote of 33 to 32 MPs was validly passed as it is his contention that 34 votes were needed.
Through Deputy Solicitor General Deborah Kumar, Williams has outlined four legal issues for the court to take into consideration. These are whether 33 votes in favour of the motion of no-confidence amounted to a majority of all elected members in accordance with Article 106 (6) of the Constitution; whether the Resolution is constitutional and effective and passed in accordance with Article 106 (6) of the Constitution; whether the amendment that caters for Articles 106(6) and 106(7) is constitutional and not inconsistent with Article 70 of the Constitution; and whether the Speaker’s ruling on the vote can be quashed by the Courts.
Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire SC said she expects to hand down rulings by month end on the challenges filed on the December 21st no-confidence motion against government.

Georgetown – Former Housing Minister in the government of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was last Saturday elected as the party’s Presidential candidate to contest the upcoming general and regional elections.
Ali received 24 of the 35-member Central Committee votes defeating the lone contender, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, who received the other 11. Nandlall was the former Attorney General.
Shortly before the secret votes were taken, three other contenders – Dr. Frank Anthony, Dr Vindhya Persaud and the party’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira – dropped out of the race.
After the vote, the four other contenders congratulated Ali and pledged support to work towards a PPP/C victory.
The PPP said that Ali, 38, has been a member of the party for over 20 years and a part of the leadership for 15 years, where he held the position of Finance Secretary for several years.
He served in the Cabinet for seven years holding the portfolios of Minister of Housing and Water and Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
A statement from the PPP said: “The Party wishes to assure that despite a most rigorous and competitive campaign, the party remains united and stands firmly behind the Presidential Candidate and pledges to work fervently to deliver victory at the polls as we continue to struggle for a better Guyana.”
After the vote, Ali said he was “extremely humbled” by the confidence the leadership of the party had reposed in him by electing him as the presidential candidate. He added he was delighted to lead a party with a great history into the elections, while noting that he was committed “to the manifesto of the party which has, at its heart, the interest of the people and the reversal of all of the policies during the last three and a half years that affected the vulnerability of the people.”
Ali is ostensibly the choice of former Guyana President and PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo. He however said that he does not see himself as anyone’s puppet or as an individual within his party but as part of a team to implement its programme on assuming the reins of government after the next elections. The former president is one of the party’s greatest assets, he said.
Ali is currently at the centre of two controversies: (1) relating to his tenure as Minister of Housing in the PPP/C government in which he is facing 19 charges over the allocation of house lots to Cabinet members and other persons in the ‘Pradoville 2’ Housing Scheme and (2) his credibility due to recent challenges to his academic qualifications.