In light of the Appeal Court’s decision that 34 votes were needed to validly pass the no-confidence motion, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) is calling on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) not to abandon plans to prepare for General and Regional elections.
The PSC, in a statement on Saturday March 23, 2019, the PSC requested GECOM to continue its preparations for the holding of polls “whenever they become constitutionally due.”
At the same time, the private sector body is calling on political parties, their supporters and the entire country to respect the decision of the Appellate Court.
The December 21, 2018 passage of the Opposition sponsored no-confidence motion was challenged in the High Court, where Chief Justice Roxanne George upheld that the motion was validly passed and that the President and his Cabinet was resigned.
However, the Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that in a split decision that the no-confidence motion was not validly passed since it needed an absolute majority of 34 votes and not a simple majority of 33.
The ruling was handed down in a 2:1 decision.
Justice Rishi Persaud had first ruled that the motion was passed by the 33 majority, upholding the ruling of the Chief Justice. But Justice Dawn Gregory ruled that the motion was not validly passed as it needed a 34 majority.
Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards was the tie breaker and ruled that a 34 majority was required.
Following the ruling, former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who represented Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo in the proceedings, indicated that they will be approaching the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to have this decision reserved.
