Constitution

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday warned that contempt of court proceedings would be filed against Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield if the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) goes ahead with house-to-house registration. “We don’t want to be caught up on the issue of a long, legal battle again but we may file contempt proceedings against Lowenfield but not to go ...

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has rejected President David Granger’s nominees—Retired Justice Claudette La Bennett and Attorney-at-Law Kesaundra Alves—for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), according to a joint statement by the political leaders’ representatives. Instead, Jagdeo has submitted four additional names in the hope that two of them would find favour with Granger and are added ...

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo Tuesday evening appeared closer to coming up with six acceptable nominees for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). “We expect that we’ll make progress in crafting a list,” President David Granger told a media briefing. In a joint statement, Jagdeo and Granger said “that from the list of five names shortlisted by ...

The United States, Britain, and the European Union (EU) on Monday urged all the players in Guyana to abide by the “definitive” orders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) related to the holding of general elections. “The Caribbean Court of Justice – Guyana’s Supreme Court – has spoken. It is important for the rule of law that all invoked ...

Political Scientist, Peter Wickham has recommended that President David Granger call general elections soon without house-to-house registration. Appearing on a News Talk Radio Guyana post-Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) order panel discussion, Wickham said A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition had contested previous elections, including the 2015 polls that it won, with the same list. “I personally ...

The Guyana government Saturday acknowledged that it’s a caretaker government, in keeping with the findings of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). At the same time, government said Cabinet would continue to function. “The Government accepts that it is an ‘interim’ government but emphasises that Cabinet has not stopped functioning and government must continue to provide public services. The Constitution ...

By GHK Lall The judicial position is that there is a ‘caretaker’ government in Guyana; or it should think of itself and operate as one. Once again, it came down through reiteration that this has to be hammered out at the local level. No alien hands and minds; no foreign ingredients. Local, it must be. And I think that everyone ...

By GHK Lall Amidst the searing confrontations over the selection of chair for Gecom, nobody has had the frankness, even honesty, to pinpoint and call out loudly and clearly what this death struggle condenses to at the core and deep soul of the matter. None (self included) has been unsparing enough and blunt enough to say publicly what this chair ...

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Friday ruled that it is for Guyana’s President, Opposition Leader, Parliament and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to determine when General Elections should be held. On the appointment of a GECOM chair, the CCJ urged that, as a matter of the greatest public importance, “the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, ...

Guyana’s political establishment is faced with a version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma. By Terrence R. Blackman (PhD) and Thomas B. Singh (PhD) July 11, 2019 The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a well-known concept in modern game theory. It is a paradox in decision analysis in which two players, each acting in her own self-interest, will fail to produce the optimal outcome.  ...