PSC says Court of Appeal decision must be respected

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) on Saturday urged all political parties, their supporters and the entire country to respect the decision of the Court of Appeal which ruled on Friday that the December 21 No-Confidence Motion was not validly passed.

Two of the three Court of Appeal Judges Friday afternoon ruled that 34 votes and not 33 in the 65-seat National Assembly are required as an absolute majority for the passage of a No Confidence Motion.

This effectively means that the Government can continue in office and there is no need to call general and regional elections unless the country’s final appellate court – the Caribbean Court of Justice -rejects the ruling.

“In the meantime, the Private Sector Commission urges the Guyana Elections Commission GECOM to continue its preparations for the holding of general and regional elections whenever they become constitutionally due,” the PSC noted in a statement.

General and regional elections are now constitutionally due in 2020 unless the Court of Appeal’s decision is overturned by the CCJ.