‘NO DEMOCRACY WORKS WITHOUT COMPROMISE’

The headline statement of President Barack Obama was of general application. It assumed more resonance when the Democrats lost the majority in Congress. The PPP learned the lesson that politics is the art of compromise before President Obama was born. Compromise was the basis of its early leadership. It was attempted during the crisis years […]

‘THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROAST’

As expected, the anti money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislation (AML/CFT) has not been passed in the National Assembly. The months of discourse, debate, committee meetings, efforts to compromise, public statements, even a visit by a CFATF official, have not yielded any positive results. The losers and victims of the failure to […]

THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE IN GUYANA

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will sit in Guyana for the first time this week. It is long overdue but welcome nevertheless. Guyana and Barbados were the first countries to accede to the appellate jurisdiction of the Court and our own Justice Desiree Bernard, now retiring, has been one of its first members. Guyana’s […]

RESOLVING THE BUDGET CONUNDRUM

The Chief Justice’s decision in the budget case will not necessarily lead to what Opposition Leader, David Granger, said might be a ‘car crash’ or ‘unintended consequences.’ If the Government and Opposition extrapolate from the Chief Justice’s conclusions, a budget can be produced. Stripping away the complexities from the Chief Justice’s analysis, a procedure can […]

WHAT THE CHIEF JUSTICE RULED

The section on Financial Procedures in the Standing Orders of the National Assembly is the same today as it was in 1969. In that year the Standing Orders were amended, no doubt to bring them in line with the provisions of the Independence Constitution of 1966. The Standing Orders had been approved by the same […]