CCJ to rule on No Confidence case next Tuesday

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will next Tuesday, June 18, rule on the Consolidated Appeals on the No Confidence motion.

The significant ruling is whether 33 votes were enough to pass the No Confidence motion on December 21, or whether another one was required.

The Opposition People’s Progressive Party had piloted the motion in the National Assembly but only had 32 seats.

Government Parliamentarian Charrandasss Persaud defected and gave the 33rd vote.

The Court of Appeal in Guyana later overturned a High Court ruling which validated the passage of the motion, saying 33 votes were enough but the Opposition Leader appealed the ruling at the CCJ.

Even though both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled that Persaud, because of being a dual citizen, was not qualified to vote, a clear constitutional provision saved or made his vote legal and valid.

Persaud’s vote meant the opposition had secured the votes it needed to bring down the Government, with the constitution dictating elections in three months.

Those elections have not been held because of the legal challenge.

If the CCJ upholds the passage of the motion, it will then have to dictate the remedies to follow, given that the three-month constitutional deadline for elections has passed.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has told President David Granger that elections are possible in late November.