Parliament

Guyana’s Interception of Communications Act was Wednesday amended to pave the way for call centres to legally record calls with customers, Minister of Public Telecommunications Cathy Hughes told the National Assembly. In piloting amendments to the 2008 Act, Hughes said the law currently does not take into account advances in telecommunications technology. She explained that call centres are required to ...

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan on Wednesday asked Parliament to approve GYD$3.4 billion for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to conduct electoral polls, even as the country awaits a crucial decision on the validity of last December’s no-confidence motion against the ruling APNU+AFC coalition. The supplementary funding request is expected to be debated and passed by the National Assembly next week. ...

Retired Justice James Patterson might be returned as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), if the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) rules that President David Granger should have given reasons for rejecting Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s 18 nominees, Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan says. “If the Court rules that the President has to give reasons, ...

The Ministry of the Presidency on Tuesday announced that the three dual-citizenship holders who resigned their ministerial posts have been given top jobs. Mr. Carl Greenidge has been appointed Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation. Mr. Dominic Gaskin has been ...

-Charrandass Persaud concedes GECOM has “significant discretion” on holding elections President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Adrian Saunders on Friday indicated that the regional court believes that Guyana’s National Assembly requires an absolute majority of its 65 members to pass a no-confidence motion, but the issue is deciding on the formula. “No one is doubting that an absolute ...

Private Guyanese citizen, Compton Reid on Friday said then government parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud did not own his seat and could not have constitutionally voted against the party list, but he could not reconcile his argument with the provision for a no-confidence motion. Through his lawyer, Senior Counsel Neil Boston, Reid told the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that Persaud never ...

Former Belize Attorney General, Eamon Courtenay on Thursday urged the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to find that then government parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud’s vote for the no-confidence motion was invalid because Guyana’s constitution prohibits parliamentarians from being disloyal to the party list of candidates. Courtenay, who teamed up with Guyana’s Attorney General Basil Williams in their efforts to convince the ...

Attorney General, Basil Williams on Thursday assured the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that the Guyana government would set aside monies needed to conduct general elections if the regional court finds that last December’s no-confidence motion was validly passed by the National Assembly. “You, as Attorney General, do we have your commitment that the necessary monies will be made available ...

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Thursday told the Caribbean Court of Justice that November 2019 is the earliest it could hold general elections after it gets funds and a new voters’ list from house-to-house registration, even as regional judges said that elections management authority ought to always be ready for snap polls. CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders asked GECOM ...

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge is expected to take up an appointment that would see him being responsible for border matters, but the major sticking point appears to be whether he would be given powers to make binding decisions on behalf of the Guyana government, sources said. The sources said a decision on Greenidge’s future role in the government ...