PAGE ONE COMMENT – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5

Nov 05, 2017 News

Justice (retired) James Patterson should be asked to step down as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission. Not only is his appointment non-consensual, but the misrepresentation that he was the Chief Justice of Grenada adds fuel to the raging controversy over his appointment.

The Curriculum Vitae (CV) of Justice Patterson which was handed over by President Granger to the Leader of the Opposition indicated that Justice Patterson was a former Chief Justice of Grenada. Justice Patterson this past week confirmed that he was never the Chief Justice of Grenada but had acted as Chief Justice of that country. He attributed the mistake to a slip of the pen.

Yet, when pressed by reporters he could not remember the year in which he served as Chief Justice. If it was a ‘slip of the pen’ that the word “acting” was left off the CV, how does one account for the lapse in memory in not recalling the year when he acted as Chief Justice? Would the CV not have stated a date when Justice Patterson would have acted in the position he says that he acted? How come that year cannot now be recalled? And how does one explain why it took so long for a simple ‘slip of the pen’ mistake to be corrected.

This nation cannot accept such a mistake or the explanations given especially by someone who will have a decisive say in the outcome of any election in Guyana. What is more disconcerting is the long time that it took for the alleged mistake to be corrected.

It also means that the President could have been misled into believing that Justice Patterson was a former Chief Justice and therefore based his decision on this untruth. The President had an obligation to undertake the necessary due diligence on someone he was appointing. It is clear that he did not do a proper due diligence. The appointment should be revoked.

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