Only two terms for Guyana president

GUYANA’S presidents cannot serve for more than two terms in office. An amendment to the Constitution which set the presidential term limit that barred presidents from serving more than two terms was upheld on Tuesday by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Port of Spain.

In a 6-1 majority ruling, Guyana’s final appellate court held that the amendment was a valid amendment. As a result of the CCJ’s ruling, former president Bharrat Jagdeo will be ineligible for another term. The decision overturns the ruling by Guyana’s Supreme and Appeal Courts that a former president can run for more than two terms.

In March, in a CCJ hearing over six hours long, attorneys for Guyana’s Attorney General argued that amendments to effect the presidential term limit were done in accordance with the Constitution, even as those representing the challenger maintained that a referendum was required and that the two-term restriction is unlawful.

The attorneys on both sides defended their respective positions before the Trinidad-based court on the challenge to term limits by private citizen Cedric Richardson. The amendment, which was made to the Constitution of Guyana in 2000, added the further qualifications that a candidate for president must be Guyanese by birth or parentage, living in Guyana on the date of nomination, and continuously resident in the country for seven years before that day.

The CCJ, after examining the historical background of the amendment, noted that it was passed unanimously by the National Assembly during Jagdeo’s term in office. The CCJ felt it was clear that the amendment did not emerge from the desire of any political party to manipulate the requirements to run for the office of President.

“The Constitution was amended after extensive national consultation and therefore represented a sincere attempt to enhance democracy in Guyana,” a judgment summary said.

Richardson had originally challenged the amendment on the basis that he should have the right to choose whomsoever he wanted to be president. He also said the amendment disqualified Jagdeo, who had previously served two terms, from running for office in upcoming elections.

The majority ruling by the CCJ judges held that Articles 1 and 9 of the Constitution did not confer on citizens an unlimited right to choose the head of state.

The CCJ also said new qualifications can be introduced by valid constitutional amendments and that the National Assembly had the power to amend the Constitution by a vote of at least two thirds of all members of the assembly, without holding a referendum. It also outlined guiding principles for assessing when new amendments to the Constitution did not require a referendum. Jagdeo had distanced himself repeatedly from the case and said he had no interest in running for a third term.