There is no intention on the part of government to derail the constitution or legislative process. This was the assurance vocalised by Head of State, President David Granger, as he delivered remarks following a meeting with opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, at the Ministry of the Presidency today.
According to Granger, “We have agreed that the two sides will continue to work together to engage the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to ensure that elections are held within the administrative capabilities of GECOM.”
The meeting between the two leaders comes on the heels of the December 21, 2018 vote of no confidence in the National Assembly which saw government being defeated 33 to 32. This development is one which constitutionally requires that new elections be held within three months unless another timeframe is negotiated and agreed upon.
With this in mind, Granger said that the meeting saw two the functioning of the National Assembly and government being addressed as well as the issue of regional and general elections.
As he made reference to the functioning of the two executive branches, Granger said, “Neither of these two important institutions (the legislative branch and the executive branch) could be allowed to fail.”
In fact, at the meeting it was amplified that since public services have to be delivered and public order must be maintained, the meeting saw the two officials being able to meet and arrive at broad agreements on how these two branches will continue to function.
On the matter of regional and general elections, Granger reminded that government had instituted legal recourse to the court in order to determine the validity of the passage no confidence motion.
Nevertheless, Granger assured that the two sides have agreed to continue to work together to engage GECOM to ensure that elections are held within its administrative capabilities. “I would say we have had a successful engagement and both the Leader of the Opposition and the President are concerned about the situation and we would like to assure the public in Guyana that we are working to a solution which they will be satisfied with. Public interest is our paramount concern,” the Head of State assured.
