Ramotar ready for opposition no-confidence vote

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 June 2014, 20:15 by GxMedia

President Donald Ramotar addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Private Sector Commission

President Donald Ramotar on Wednesday vowed that he was ready for early general election if the opposition moved a vote of no-confidence in his administration.

“We do not take threats. If the opposition wants to pass a no-confidence bill, let them pass it and we will be ready to deal with the consequences of that,” he said.

Addressing the opening of the Annual General Meeting of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Guyanese leader’s reaction came the same day that the Alliance For Change’s (AFC) Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo reportedly said that a no-confidence vote by the opposition-controlled House could come very soon.

Nagamootoo was quoted by the privately-owned Stabroek News as saying that one of the reasons for considering a no-confidence motion was the fact that government has already spent GUY4.5 billion of the $37.4 billion which had been cut by the joint opposition from the $220 billion 2014 budget.

The administration has said that the Finance Minister was relying on recent court rulings on budget cuts and provisions of Guyana’s constitution. Asked why he does not go ahead and call early national elections, he said it was the opposition that threatened the no-confidence vote. “When I say I am going to do it, I am going to do it. I wouldn’t even say it.” The President insisted that his government was following all the rules of accountability.