Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo reacted furiously to President David Granger’s position that elections will be called in late November after house to house registration, insisting that elections must be called “as early as possible.”
“This is another Granger dissing the constitution like he did with the (unilateral) appointment of the Chairman of GECOM.
“This is Granger saying ‘ignore the constitution, what I say matters. I am going to tell you what you need to do – you have to go and do the house to house and then I will hold elections.’
“He has no such powers in our constitution, but this is another issue of Granger acting above the Constitution,” Jagdeo told reporters at a press conference.
Jagdeo said a November date “will not fly” because the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) clearly ruled Tuesday that the December 21 No Confidence motion was validly passed and that triggered Article 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution, which dictates elections in three months.
“Granger lives in a bubble; he hangs on with his corrupt cabal at all costs,” Jagdeo stated.
“I have not amended my opinion of the President; I have not changed it.
“He cannot be oblivious to the implications of the ruling; he cannot be oblivious to what article 106 and 7 of our Constitution says.
“Yet he insists on this,” Jagdeo declared.
“This Government has seen the writing on the wall. He is hanging to his last few days as President, hoping that somehow through wanton use of state resources they can change their electoral fortunes,” he added.
Jagdeo said that given the CCJ decision upholding the December 21 No Confidence motion, it means the Government has been “squatting” in office for the longest while.
He insisted that the Government cannot act as if it business as usual.
Jagdeo posited that with the CCJ ruling, it means the Government has been illegal since March 31 and this meant they passed legislation to manage the country’s oil wealth and approved billions in supplementary budget spending and contracts during this time.
