Jagdeo says PPP to hit the streets again if President delays dissolution of Parliament

The Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has threatened to resume protest actions if President David Granger does not dissolve Parliament come next month.
Having already set March 2, 2020 as the date for the much anticipated General and Regional Elections and issuing the election proclamation, pressure has been mounting on the caretaker President to also dissolve the 11th Parliament.
But according to Article 61 of the Constitution, “An election of members of the National Assembly under Article 60 (2) shall be held on such day within three months after every dissolution of Parliament as the President shall appoint by proclamation.”
Nevertheless, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo contends that come December 2, President Granger will have to dissolve Parliament.
“When the time comes, he will have to dissolve. I’m just making sure that he understands one thing that December 2 is the day… He has to dissolve Parliament; he has to issue a proclamation. Let him delay that and we’ll resume protest because that’s part of the holding of elections – the dissolution of Parliament,” the Opposition Leader stated at his recent press conference last week.
The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition has been acting as a caretaker government for nearly one year since the December 21, 2018 passage of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against it.
Despite having named March 2 as Election Day, the President is yet to have his Cabinet resign and dissolve Parliament. Asked last week about the latter, President Granger indicated that he could not say when Parliament would be dissolved.
“I will stay away from dissolution as long as there is a likelihood that we will need the vote of the whole parliament to pass any measure – financial measure. Unfortunately, for time to time because of urgent matters such as flood or fire, we may need funds and only Parliament could authorise disbursement of funds which have not been provided for,” he stated.
The Head of State further reminded that in light of the circumstances, Government has not drafted a budget for 2020 and as such, has to be prudent in its expenditure.
“It means that if there is any extraordinary expenditure, rising out of any unanticipated situation, whether it’s an act of God, force majeure, or any other, I feel it is prudent to keep the Parliament opened as long as possible,” the President noted.
However, the following day, Jagdeo rubbished Granger’s contention as a “silly excuse” to hold onto office. He pointed out that the Contingency Fund was there for the Government to access in the case of such emergency funding.
“I can’t imagine that a President would be so ill-informed that he doesn’t understand that there is a Contingency Fund for things [like] emergency spending, disasters, etc… that Parliament doesn’t have to exist to have access to the Contingency Fund. In any case, he can’t pass a budget so the one-twelfth provision kicks in next year. But he has, like with everything else, a very vague understanding of how Government runs,” the Opposition Leader, who is a former two-term President, asserted.