GRANGER GOVT FALLS

Guyanese citizens will head to the polls in a general election within the next three months after Friday’s controversial vote in which an MP in the Moses Nagamootoo-led regime sided with the Opposition in a no-confidence motion against the government, causing it to collapse.

A mixture of shock and bedlam enveloped the 65-seat National Assembly seconds after an Alliance For Change (AFC) MP Charandass Persaud voted with the opposition People’s Progress Party (PPP), led by former president Bharrat Jagdeo, despite desperate efforts from colleagues for him to reconsider his vote in favour of the government.

Persaud’s vote gave the opposition 33 seats in the assembly as opposed to the coalition government’s 32 seats.

The AFC is a member of the Partnership for National Unity (APNU) which also consists of the Guyana Action Party, Guyana Association of Local Authorities, Guyana National Congress, Guyana People’s Partnership, Guyana Youth Congress, Justice for All Party, National Democratic Front, National Front Alliance, People’s National Congress (PNC) and Working People’s Alliance.

After the 2015 election, Granger, head of the PNC, was made president.

Persaud’s controversial vote has effectively placed the South American country on an election footing but has also cast doubts on the political future of Granger as head of state. Granger, 73, is currently battling cancer.

Up until news time, it was unclear whether he would resign or seek re-election.

However, Sunday Newsday learnt that Jagdeo has asked State Minister Joe Harmon to inform the president that he would like to meet with him to determine the way forward.

The request was reportedly made on Friday, moments after Persaud, who represents the AFC faction of the coalition administration, voted with the PPP in moving the no-confidence motion against the government.

Persaud’s decision to support the opposition in an apparent conscience vote, therefore, means that elections must be called within three months or at a time agreed to by two-thirds of the National Assembly when a no-confidence motion is moved, according to the country’s constitution.

Meanwhile, there are also reports that Persaud, an attorney and government back-bencher, is being dubbed a traitor by his colleagues in the wake of his controversial and unexpected stance.

Reports coming out of Guyana also suggest that Persaud, a Berbician, has been placed under heavy security. He was expected to leave the country yesterday for an unspecified trip.

Persaud is said to have been dissatisfied with the treatment meted out to the AFC by its major partners in the coalition.

In an interview with reporters after the debate, Persaud also cited as an example of his discontent, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence’s recent statement about hiring party faithfuls.

He complained the AFC leadership did not condemn, but rather condoned, Lawrence’s statement.

“I am an AFC member, and I’m extremely disappointed in the AFC team. My reason for voting in favour of the motion is that I have no confidence in what the AFC team will do,” Persaud told reporters.

The renegade MP also denied being affiliated to the PPP.

When asked by reporters if he would switch sides to the PPP, Persaud said he intends to leave politics.

He also made it clear, he was not strong-armed into voting against the government but noted the act may have put his life in jeopardy.

In fact, Persaud revealed he received death threats minutes after the vote.

“But my conscience is now clear. My life may go, but I’ll die a happy person, and with a clear conscience… This is the one time I had a say, and I said it according to my conscience. Those who are APNU and those who are AFC, I have nothing against you,” he declared to reporters.

Commenting on the controversial development, political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath such occurrences were to be expected given the nature of coalition governments.

He recalled during the tenure of the United National Congress-led People’s Partnership coalition, from 2010 to 2015, then Congress of the People (COP) MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan and others had complained about the party’s leader Prakash Ramadhar.

“It was felt he was simply siding with the government and not standing up for the rights of the COP,” he told Sunday Newsday.

“What we saw in Guyana is the AFC member who has decided that he has enough of simply giving the government his support, not to mention the fact that he felt his party was being sidelined.

“He felt he was deemed to be a second class citizen. And, in that context, what he did was simply vote his conscience.”

Ragoonath, head of the Department of Political Science, UWI, St Augustine, added: “If parliamentarians vote conscience, in many instances you may find governments coming up short but, of course, the party whip causes the party to stay in power. But this is one instance where the party whip in Guyana failed to do it.”

Ragoonath said the fact that the APNU coalition had a small majority going into government did not help its situation “so, once a person crosses the floor, that’s it.”

The political scientist recalled that the last time a no-confidence motion was brought against the government was during Donald Ramoutar’s term as president from 2011 to 2015.

He said Ramoutar dissolved the Parliament and called for a fresh election.

“Likewise, what happened in TT when Patrick Manning felt there was going to be a vote of no confidence against him and his government and he could not trust his members, he called the election in 2010. So, it is in the same vein what we have seen happening in Guyana.”

Asked if he felt an ailing Granger would seek re-election, Ragoonath said: “Depending on his health, he may very well decide to not contest the election. But for now he has no other choice but to step down as president. Whether he will contest, we will just have to wait and see.”

Ragoonath predicted the upcoming election will be “touch and go.”

He said: “The PPP/ Civic lost the election by less than 5,000 votes in 2015, bearing in mind that in November 2018, they won the local government election.

“So, clearly, the PPP/Civic is on the ascent and once they could mobilise their members, they stand a good chance of winning the election.”

However, Ragoonath observed the PPP/Civic was not prepared for victory in the no-confidence motion.

“In fact, they In fact they wanted to delay the motion until January where they could have whipped up some more support.

“It is the prime minister who insisted that the no-confidence motion be taken before the end of the year. Of course, he did not see that AFC Persaud voting against them.”

Retired head of the public service Reginald Dumas also weighed in on the shocking turn of events, saying it had far-reaching implications for the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between TT and Guyana, regarding energy sector cooperation and other areas,in September.

“This is something the (Bharrat) Jagdeo side was being very sarcastic about. So, the questions will arise about that MOU, which is not legally binding, in any case,” he said.

“It can be thrown out by a new government, which means that Rowley or the government of TT has egg on its face again.”

Dumas could not say how the move will affect the Caricom agenda.

“I really don’t know. But I always got the impression that he was in favour of Caricom but a little unhappy, as I am, with the behaviour of some of the Caricom prime ministers who will be happily adopting resolutions and then ignoring them when they go back home.”