CCJ rules in favour of Government in Presidential Term limit case

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Tuesday morning ruled in favour of the Guyana Government in the presidential term limit case which was brought by private citizen Cedric Richardson three years ago.

The seven judges of the CCJ upheld the constitutionality of the amendments which restricts a president to two elected terms in office. The ruling was 6-1.

This means that General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo, who has already served two elected terms in office, cannot run for president again.

Jagdeo has already expressed that despite the outcome of the case, he will remain the General Secretary of the PPP and will have an active role in the next PPP Government.

The then acting Chief Justice Ian Chang in July 2015 ruled that the presidential term-limit was unconstitutional on several grounds.

The Guyana Government had appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

Guyana’s Attorney General Basil Williams sought to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision which held that an Act passed by the government to amend Article 90 of the Constitution by introducing new criteria or eligibility to run for the office of President indirectly breached Articles 1 and 9 of the Constitution.

Those articles give the electorate of Guyana the right to elect a President of their choice. Among other things, there was an amendment which prohibited candidates who had served two presidential terms of office from serving a third term.