President breached Constitution, can be removed from office- Ramson
Attorney-at-Law, Charles Ramson said that President Granger knowingly breached the Constitution in relation to the appointment of Justice James Patterson as Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission. Ramson noted the President can be removed from office for this. Ramson via a Facebook recording noted that the breach was evident in the CCJs’ ruling on Friday.
He said that in paragraph five of the consequential orders “In this the Gecom Chairman case, the Court concluded that the process that resulted in the unilateral appointment by the President of a Chairman of Gecom was flawed and in breach of the Constitution.” He noted that the President in his own deliberate action has breached the Constitution of Guyana. It was also noted that this is the first time that the Judiciary ruled that a Head of State breached the Constitution by their own deliberate action.
He went on to note that the breach of the Constitution by the President is a very serious matter and that there are provisions in the Constitution which provides that the President can be removed from office.
Ramson said that the President cannot argue that he was not aware of the breach because several legal persons spoke on the issue of the unilateral appointment of the Gecom Chair.
“The breach of Constitution by President Granger is very serious because the Constitution is, in and of itself, the most important document for all Guyanese. This is the document which gives all Guyanese their rights, protections, and freedoms which includes, among other things, the right to life and liberty, the right to a free education and health care, the right to own private property and the protection against its deprivation without due process, and the freedom of expression and religious belief.
These rights, freedoms, and protections are fundamental to how we, as Guyanese, live our lives and it is the Constitution, which guarantees such. Incidentally, it is the very same Constitution, which frames the institutional order of our country and gives President Granger himself the powers and immunities, which he enjoys as President. Therefore, President Granger simply cannot cherry pick the parts of the Constitution, which are beneficial to him and his purposes and disregard the other parts, which are not,” Ramson noted.