While members of the PPPC and most of the local media are out celebrating the alleged demise of the coalition, Nigel Hughes provided a timely and fresh perspective on the no confidence motion that was alleged to have passed in parliament. Attorney Hughes on his facebook page stated, “
The no confidence that wasn’t. There are sixty five members of the house. Mathematically one half of the house is 32.5 members. There is no such thing as a half member so half of the house is 33 members. This is because you have to round up to identify half of the house.
For a no confidence motion to pass and be valid the motion has to enjoy more votes that one half of the full house i.e 34 votes. The house voted 33:32. 33 is a rounding down of what constitutes half of the house. The motion consequently was not carried.
See: Hughes v Rogers. Civil suit 99 and 101 of 1999. Anguilla. Delivered Jan 12th 2000. First instance decision of Sanders J.
Attorney Nigel Hughes’ position is supported not only by precedent but by former PPPC Speaker, Ralph Ramkarran who stated that;
“Ramkarran said that from much “word in the street” about the upcoming no-confidence motion and the opposition’s seeming confidence that it will have enough votes to pass the motion, much discussion has not been had on the passage of the Appropriation Bill. He pointed out that while the opposition needs the support of at least two government parliamentarians for its no-confidence motion to be carried, only one vote, which will see a tie, is needed for the non-passage of the 2019 Budget Appropriation Bill.” Nov, 26, 2018 Stabroek News
However it was Prime Minister Nagamootoo who prematurely and incorrectly reinforced the notion that 33 votes were a majority and therefore acceptable for the no-confidence vote to carry.
We the citizens of Guyana would like this matter reviewed and settled in a court of law. The people of Guyana must not be cheated of their right to have their duly elected government represent their interests.
If this vote is not considered the passing of the non-confidence motion then Jagdeo might get an aneurysm..
Charrands Persaud will have to find a rock to hide under or ?????
So u mean the prime minister did not know that,before he accepted n carried the motion this is upsetting n unbelievable then it must be changed immediately if it’s a genuine mistake the poor people of Guyana lives are at stake n we request the correction be made pppc is a complete failure to this nation for 23 years we cannot stand to see them kill n suffer us any longer.
Everyone has to take their voting rights seriously. Vote for every election. Don’t NOT vote and later complain about how things are happening or not
Agreed. Too many ‘ Mother’s in Black ‘
What really annoys me is the fact that on the Administration side there are many Lawyers and many legal issues always seem to escape their individual or collective attentions.
On the issue of whether it requires 33 or 34 votes to pass a No-confidence motion, that issue should have been engaged and prioritized since it was raised by Mr. Ralph Ramkarran.
Maybe there are so accustomed to being reactive that ‘reaction’ has etched itself into their individual psyche that they have lost the ability to be proactive.
Important observation about those who are supposed to dispense the law which reflects on the two women who were exonerated due to an unbelievable situation.
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment. Fire them all Mr. President.
God is in control PPP demise is from above enough is enough
Why are you allowing Jagdeo and his cronies who should have been in jail for the crimes committed on the lost to the people of Guyana. His still around doing what he knows best buy and sell the weakness of the collation is to be blame,stop fighting among your selves and do what the people placed you their to do..
Peru it is in the Coalition’s best interest to have an independent legal firm to watch out for their interest as their legal officers seem to have a limited knowledge of their parliamentary procedures. Pick a speaker that is versed in rudimentary parliamentary procedure to avoid such costly mistakes.
What? This is in believable.
Sorry. No it is not. In a country where thieves and murderers are freed because they have been charged with the wrong offence it is not surprising.
Lawyers..Lawyers!!! Same thing I said…don’t get tie up…they always will surprise you the populace…initially Nigel was very quiet, maybe he was doing his research…initiative would be interesting to see who are the other two parliamentarians from the Government side who were prepared to do what Charan Dass did …”but because of fear of their subsequent safety …kept quiet when CP. boldly spoke up..
Smh
The why was Moses Nagamootoo so happy to pronounce on a situation where only the President’s voice mattered?. Should he be recalled as well? Guyana CANNOT return to the PPP-run degeneracy of corruption, death and mayhem we described in “Greed, Genocide .. . And now ‘Green’: Corruption and Underdevelopment in Guyana” (https://www.scribd.com/document/17958657/Greed-Genocide-and-now-Green-Corruption-and-Underdevelopment-in-Guyana )
Perhaps it is in the Coalition’s best interest to retain an independent legal counsel to watch out for their interest as their legal officers seem to have a limited knowledge of their parliamentary procedures. Pick a speaker that is versed in rudimentary parliamentary procedure to avoid such costly mistakes.
Good assessment……it follows……naturally for the collation……logical thinking!!!!!!!!.i
Jagdeo and his cronies are not satisfied that they stole billions of taxpayer dollars for the past 23 years now they have their eyes on the price, the oil industry. Well it’s not going to happen, if i have to travel just to vote i will, good luck with your witch hunt.
Wow!! This is an amazing turn of events. Shame on the lawyers on the Government side though. Obviously, they weren’t prepared for this eventuality ( remember the saying i.e failing to prepare is preparing to fail) God continues to amaze us. thank you Lord for using Mr. N. Huges to expose this scheme to defraud the citizens of this nation. My prayer is that all involved in this scheme be exposed. Coalition, this is a warning, time for serious introspection and pay more attention to the people you were elected to serve, and give the Lord Jesus His due. May God continue to bless this dear land of Guyana.
God’s is in charge, NOT MAN. The almighty creator has the greatest healing power of all and he will heal GUYANA. My Faith is in God. Not man, so let’s keep on praying. Come on children of a living God let’s fall on our knees, God who is our spiritual father knows us from the inside and he will be the Judge.
My name is Aretha Henry and I am a Guyanese born I love what the current President is doing for the country and I also think that the former president needs to sit back and let the current president do his job because he had 22 years to run the country and he did run it straight into the ground thank you Mr president for the work that you and your party are doing May god bless all of you guys