The Government has committed to debating the No-Confidence Motion filed against them by Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, but is yet to set a date for the hearing in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo made it clear that the motion will not be debated before the presentation and debate of Budget 2019, which is slated for Monday, November 26.
Mr Jagdeo had wanted the motion to be debated before the budget is presented but Mr Nagamootoo said the debate of the motion will be done “sometime” in December and that the Coalition Government is ready to defeat it.
“We will debate this motion, we will have this motion discussed and we will defeat it, because it is not a viable motion; it is a motion that is bred out of desperation, it is a motion that is bred out of Opposition frustration, it is a motion that is bred by this opportunism to look forward to the new wealth of Guyana and trying to destabilise our beautiful country,” the Prime Minister said in an address which was only streamed live on the Department of Public Information’s (DPI) Facebook page Friday afternoon.
A letter has since been sent to the Opposition Leader by Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, informing him that the motion will be heard in December, according to Mr Nagamootoo.
“It will be debated when the time comes…this debate will not take place before the Budget presentation. It will be sometime in December and whenever it comes, we say bring it on,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Jagdeo claims that there are several allegations of corruption against the current APNU+AFC administration during its three years in office hence the motion of No-Confidence.
The motion seemed to have caught the coalition Government off-guard as it postponed Parliament on November 16 to discuss the issue.
However, Mr Nagamootoo said the administration is prepared to discuss the motion.
“We’re not running away from a No Confidence Motion. We’re prepared for a discussion of any such motion but we believe there are some issues that take precedent over such a motion.”
The Prime Minister questioned the motive for the Opposition submitting such a motion soon after the Local Government Elections.
“In order to move a motion against a Government that has been elected by the people of this country by a majority of votes, you have to be confident the motion could pass, it could succeed.
“In this case, the PPP has moved a motion, knowing it has the minority of votes in the National Assembly…on the surface of it, the No-Confidence motion cannot succeed, it is a no-go, it is a no, no,” the Prime Minister said.
He reminded when the Alliance For Change (AFC) filed a No-Confidence Motion in 2014 against the Donald Ramotar led PPP Government.
Ramotar had prorogued Parliament given the fact that he led a minority Government and could not muster a majority vote to defeat the motion.
But Mr Nagamootoo believes that the APNU+AFC administration is capable of taking the country forward.
“Our Government has been a stable Government, we have been able to restore peace and public order to Guyana,” he said.
