Government has not initiated steps to have a sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow (April 11, 2019), as was announced by Minister of State Joseph Harmon last month.
This would have been the coalition government’s much anticipated return to the National Assembly following the Appeal Court’s ruling that the Opposition’s no-confidence motion was invalidly pass in the House on December 21, 2018.
Harmon had announced that the sitting would deal with the release of monies to the Guyana Elections Commission to prepare for elections.
However, the National Assembly’s Clerk, Sherlock Isaacs, explained that his Office was not formally informed by government of any sitting set for Thursday’s date, hence no preparations were made.
Efforts to contact both Government’s Chief Whip Amna Ally and Government’s spokesperson Minister Harmon on this issue were futile.
The last sitting of the National Assembly was on January 3, when House Speaker Dr Barton Scotland refused a request by government to reverse the passage of the no-confidence motion.
Government then moved to the High Court, where they were once again unsuccessful. A subsequent approach to the Court of Appeal resulted in a 2:1 majority decision that the motion needed an absolute majority of 34 votes and not a simple majority of 33 to be valid.
The PPP opposition has since appealed this ruling at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which has set May 10 for arguments on the matters.
