Georgetown: President David Granger revealed that he is willing to call a state of emergency to pave the way for the reconvening of a Parliament and the approval of funds for government spending, if the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) scraps the March 2, 2020 general and elections.
“It is possible…I know it has been done before. It is not an option that I would embark on without receiving agreement of all the parties concerned. I don’t think it should be undertaken lightly or arbitrarily,” he told a selected group of reporters at State House on Sunday.
He recalled that the Parliament had been recalled in 1990 under then President Desmond Hoyte to allow for electoral reforms, including house-to-house registration, and elections were later called in 1992.
Faced with a “massive shortfall” in revenues and a “massive increase” in expenditure, Granger said there was a huge gap that he hoped would be partly closed by the convening of Parliament after the elections cycle concludes.
“Right now, we are not running on empty but we are running with very low funds,” Granger said.
The President said the reconvening of Parliament would require “some form of agreement” or legal mechanism. In 1990, the elections had not yet been held unlike now. Granger conceded that Guyana would face “uncharted territory” in finding a way for Parliament to approve funds if GECOM annuls the elections.
Granger appeared to stress repeatedly that the GECOM Chairman would say that alleged fraud and other irregularities were so severe that she would be unable to deliver a result from a credible election.
“I think they can very well say that- that we cannot make declaration because the information indicates that the process has been badly flawed,” he said.
Asked where that would leave Guyana, the President said that would be a matter for the Commission or the Courts because “we would be in a legal no-man’s land” as the country has never had a situation where there has been no declaration.”
“I do feel that in this case it is not impossible that the Election Commission will say that based on the evidence that was presented, we cannot declare because the information indicates that there has been widespread fraud or that the process is flawed,” he said.
However, Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall said “David Granger has emerged from his usual cocoon and made some almost irrational statements to the press. He speaks glibly about matters of a technical nature of which he knows very little.”
Further, Nandlall said “he hints at invoking a state of emergency and reconvening of Parliament. Neither of these constitutional mechanisms can be activated in a period after elections and before declaration of the results of those elections. He hints at another legal impossibility-the failure of GECOM to disclose the results of the elections. This is another eventuality not provided for, nor contemplated by, the law. There is only one course of action open to GECOM. Under Article 177 of the Constitution, GECOM must be declare the election results in accordance with the recount.”
Nandlall said the results are already known, having been publicly recounted and tabulated. Another person is already deemed to have been elected the President.
“The declaration will simply solemnize this reality. Granger is simply biding time in Office. The quicker he understands this reality, the better it will be for him and Guyana,” Nandlall said.
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