Guyanese Online

Shocking setback but… APNU/AFC confident – Nagamootoo

 Dec 22, 2018  – Kaieteur News

Parliamentarians for the government side were bowled over, yesterday. They had no idea that AFC’s Charrandass Persaud who shockingly voted in favor of a no-confidence motion last evening, was going to do so.
There were no indications and in fact, Government Members of Parliament (MPs) were issued with a circular in a briefing session, warning that the vote could not be a conscience vote.
The disclosures were made in a post-vote press conference hosted by Leader of Government Business, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, last evening in a presence of top MPs of the A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC). 

That one vote led to a 33-32 passage of the no-confidence motion tabled by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. The Opposition cited corruption, mismanagement and the loss of jobs, as the reasons for the motion.
It was widely rumored that at least one government MP was going to join with the Opposition in the vote. Fingers were pointing.
The vote in favor of the no confidence meant that elections are to be held in three months.
It is almost a replay of the early elections under the Donald Ramotar administration.
Surrounded by top officials of the APNU/AFC, at the Parliament briefing room, the PM said that consultations will now be held with legal advisors on the way forward.
The future of Persaud, a lawyer, will now be decided, Nagamootoo said, especially as he had been told the vote could not be one of conscience.
In fact, the dissenting MP acted contrary to an undertaking he and others had given earlier in the day.
Conceding that it is democracy at work, the PM said that the process is unpredictable but must be accepted.
Nagamootoo insisted that the developments sparking early elections, which are reminiscent of the early 2015 general polls, is not the end, but that the coalition will be hitting the towns and ground to send its message of the “good life”.
He urged Guyanese to do nothing to affect the stability and peace, and businesses during this holiday season.
While the vote will be welcomed by some, and a shock to others, it is how democracy works, he said.
Over the next few months, until elections, the Ministers will remain in place, carrying out Government business work, especially with a budget that has been passed.
According to the officials, there was a meeting prior to the debate on the no-confidence motion where MP Persaud did not immediately show that he was unhappy.
In fact, over the recent Local Government Elections, the lawyer was foot-to-foot with Nagamootoo on the platform, and was even in Berbice over the weekend, attending a children’s party.
There were no indications that MP Persaud had an issue.
Maybe a “tsumani” happened overnight or he was compromised, Nagamootoo said.
Questioned about the prospects of the coalition for retaining power, Nagamootoo was confident that not much support has been lost.
However, he admitted, the developments last evening was no ordinary one…Rather it was a serious political setback.
The coalition will now be moving rapidly to mobilize and strengthen its base.
Questioned about security for the lawyer, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramajttan, said that a security detail has been afforded to Charrandass Persaud
In fact, the security will continue until this morning when Persaud is taken to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to leave for Canada.