Cabinet will continue to function – Min. Ramjattan

DPI, Guyana, Friday, August 9, 2019

Minister of Public Security, Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan has condemned the opposition for attempting to confuse the public by continuously spreading erroneous information. He assured that the Cabinet will continue to function in the interest of the country

Minister Ramjattan, who was at the time being interviewed on Voice of Guyana’s radio programme ‘INSIGHT’, said the Cabinet will continue to function until elections are held and a new president is sworn in.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), he said, made it “crystal clear” in its consequential order that the government remains. Quoting from the consequential order, the minister said “it is important however that the court makes this point, in mandating that the government shall remain in office, notwithstanding its defeat, and resignation of the President and the Cabinet, Article 106 envisages that the tenure in office of the Cabinet including the President, after the government’s defeat, is on a different footing from that which existed prior to the vote of no confidence.”

Based on the ruling, Minister Ramjattan noted that “we [government] still have to run the country… who then runs the country if they are saying then we have to resign. And if Ramjattan is to resign, I can formally tender my resignation to the president, who does President Granger tender his resignation to?”

The minister highlighted that the rulings of the CCJ gave the government an interim status as he described the confusion being fermented by the opposition as senseless. He pointed out that if something major is to occur in Guyana, there must be a government in place to make decisions in the interest of its citizens.

“You do not have to formally resign; as Article 106 (7) says you shall resign upon the new swearing-in of that new President. So, the Presidency is intact, Cabinet is intact, and the CCJ made it quite clear,” the minister stated.

He further underscored that the “government must never be in a vacuum, you cannot have a void in governance and what it means is that the President and the Executive Branch which includes the Cabinet, must be in existence.”

In response to a letter requesting the government resign from office, President Granger has advised the Leader of the Opposition, that neither he nor his Cabinet will do so.