Caribbean Court Of Justice Interprets

Constitutional Provisions On Anti-

Defection And No-Confidence While
Upholding The Fall Of Guyanese
President's Government

The Caribbean Court of Justice, while upholding the collapse of government under
the David Granger in Guyana, issued a substantial decision on the movement of
defection and no confidence.

In this case, the National Assembly voted on a motion of no confidence against

President Granger in which 33 members voted in favor, while 32 voted against the
motion.

Mr Persaud, one of the participants, acted against the whip of the group and voted
in favor of the motion. In the petition submitted by the Attorney General to the High
Court, it was subsequently pointed out that, during the election, he held the
citizenship of Canada and is therefore declared disqualified as a member of the
Assembly.

The Supreme Court received an appeal and a counter-appeal concerning the

movement of no confidence against Guyana's incumbent president, Mr Granger.

The court ruled on the first problem that Articles 106(2) and 106(6) were to give
impact to this basic principle of responsible or accountable government. It is
unimportant that Article 106(6) speaks of a "motion of confidence" and not a
movement of no trust.
It does not influence the principle's functioning. These are mere linguistic
differences denoting the same coin's distinct sides. Therefore, the court dismissed
all allegations challenging the motion of no confidence passed against the incumbent
president and upheld the removal as constitutional of his governments.