Guyana: Court to rule on validity of no-confidence motion

Guyana’s Speaker of the National Assembly Barton Scotland ruled yesterday that the controversy over the validity of the recently passed no-confidence motion should be settled by the court.

During the sitting, that was boycotted by members of the main opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Scotland decided not to consider the resolution of the no-confidence motion , instead saying that the Assembly will be guided by the court’s ruling.

In response to a request from the government seeking a reversal of the resolution of the no-confidence motion, Scotland said he received advice, both solicited and unsolicited, from various jurisdictions on the issue.

He said while he has the power to reverse the no-confidence resolution, he believes that issues related to its passage might be addressed better outside the Assembly, referring to the court.

His decision is likely to see both the government and the opposition approaching the court for a final ruling on whether the no-confidence motion was properly passed.

The government’s position is that the motion was not properly passed since it believes a majority of 34 seats were needed for a majority passage, however, the opposition contends that 33 votes represented the majority.

Both sides have said they intend to move to the court.

The opposition had already indicated that it wants the court to force the government to accept the vote and call elections within 3 months.

The government has already hired the services of Senior Counsel Rex McKay and Stephen Fraser along with a number of other high powered attorneys to address the issue. Last month, opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo successfully tabled the motion of no confidence in the government after accusing it of being “incompetent and corrupt”.

The motion secured the 33 votes required to pass the motion in the 65-seat National Assembly after several hours of debate.

Jagdeo said the government has been a total failure and has not been keeping its promises to the people of Guyana who voted them into office. -(CMC)