Georgetown: The Guyana Government on Friday announced to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) that a date for General and Regional Elections is “imminent”, and assured the 15-member regional bloc that the Donald Ramotar Administration was not in breach of the Commonwealth Charter and is not facing any sanctions as was threatened by outgoing UK Ambassador, Andrew Ayre earlier this week.
President Donald Ramotar will soon announce a date for elections. The statement of the “imminent” announcement of an election date was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett during a Caricom Council meeting held at the Community’s Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown.
In a statement issued late Friday evening, Caricom said that the Community Council received an update from the Foreign Minister of Guyana regarding developments in relation to the prorogation of the Parliament of Guyana.
Ministers recalled that the Government of Guyana had formally advised the Caribbean Community regarding the prorogation and the reason for this course of action.
According to the Caricom statement, in her update, the Foreign Minister advised of the “imminent announcement of elections by the President of Guyana”.
Ministers, the statement said were satisfied that the prorogation of Parliament was in keeping with the provisions of the Guyana Constitution and did not constitute a breach of the Commonwealth Charter.
Caricom Ministers also underscored the need for the respect of diplomatic proprieties and for adherence to the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of Member States, the Caricom statement concluded. Only Thursday evening at a reception to welcome a Surinamese delegation at the Princess Hotel, President Ramotar when asked about an election date said: “I haven’t decided as yet but not this weekend but soon, soon.”
Back in December last year President Ramotar had told a news conference that steps are being taken to set a date for the holding of the 2015 General and Regional Elections. He said while he is continuing his consultations and engagements, steps are also being taken to properly dissolve Parliament to pave the way for these elections. “It (the announcement) definitely will be made in the first quarter of next year (2015),” he had said. He had stressed that there was a lot of speculation being made about his decision and noted that while persons may have an approximate idea of when he will be calling elections in accordance with the Constitution, the specific date will remain with him. After three years of political gridlock, President Ramotar on December 8 announced that following a series of consultations, he decided “we will go to elections”.
The President had suspended Parliament on November 10, after the combined Opposition threatened to proceed with a No-Confidence Motion against his Government at the first post-recess sitting of the National Assembly. The President pointed out that his actions were aimed at the preservation of the life of the 10th Parliament while at the same time giving the parties the opportunity to engage in talks on matters that failed to gain adequate parliamentary consideration.
From the onset, the Alliance For Change (AFC) stated its unwillingness to engage in any talks. Nevertheless, President Ramotar wrote Opposition Leader David Granger inviting him to dialogue; however, Granger responded in a brief letter dated December 2, 2014, refusing to have any discussions. President Ramotar had said: “My administration more than justified its resort to prorogation…. During this time, the Guyanese people were exposed to an Opposition that rejected dialogue…. I had to conceive that my objective for prorogation were unlikely to be achieved. It logically followed that other options to prorogation be considered,” the President had outlined.
He explained that he had two options: either return to Parliament or go to elections. The President noted that the former choice would allow the business of the House to resume, which included the debate of the No-Confidence Motion; as such, he resolved to call elections.
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