Jagdeo peddling cheap political mischief

Jagdeo peddling cheap political mischief – AFC

Nov 17, 2017 News

The Alliance For Change (AFC) maintains that the party had no role in the selection of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), retired Justice James Patterson, and sought to explain the presence of its Leader, Raphael Trotman at State House, prior to the swearing in ceremony.
In recent days, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has doubled down on assertions that Trotman’s presence at State House conflicts with the AFC’s position of playing no role in the selection of Patterson.

Minister of Natural Resources and AFC Leader, Raphael Trotman

The AFC forms part of the current coalition Government and Trotman serves as the Minister of Natural Resources.
According to the AFC, Trotman wrote to the party to explain that he was invited to an urgent meeting at State House by President David Granger on the evening of October 19th.
At the meeting, the AFC noted that President Granger informed Mr. Trotman of his decision with regard to the appointment of Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman. According to the party, the meeting concluded and Mr. Trotman departed.
“I arrived at State House this evening and was shown a letter by the President, which was addressed to Mr. Jagdeo,” Trotman wrote.
It was pointed out that the President’s letter stated that he has rejected the third list and has considered the ruling of the Chief Justice, and it is the President’s opinion, that he is constitutionally empowered to name a person to the Chairmanship.
Trotman recalled in his letter that Jagdeo arrived at State House at 6 p.m. accompanied by Anil Nandlall and Irfaan Ally to meet President Granger. They were subsequently informed of the President’s position and then handed letters to this effect.
According to Trotman, Jagdeo challenged the President’s rejection of the list and his right to unilaterally name a person. He noted that Jagdeo’s basis was that it is unconstitutional in addition to being an act of bad faith.
“He (Jagdeo) also stated that he will not recognise Justice Patterson as being impartial and will challenge the appointment,” Trotman wrote to the party.
According to the AFC, the information made available by Trotman ‘clearly settles’ the matter of the AFC’s involvement in the selection process.
“Jagdeo appears to be deeply disturbed by the party’s condemnation of his reckless and unpatriotic threats of non-cooperation and civil disobedience and that the party’s publicly stated position is that it would have held him accountable for the consequences of any civil unrest which might have ensued from such a reckless stance,” the AFC noted.
Further, the party stated that Jagdeo’s threats turned out to be nothing, but empty bluster having been rejected by the people of Guyana, including his own supporters.
“The AFC is certain that its strong public condemnation of Jagdeo alerted the nation to his sinister motives and played a significant role in derailing his reckless plans. Jagdeo appears to now be on an intensified campaign of vendetta and revenge against the AFC as a result of the party’s thwarting of his plans for civil disobedience and unrest,” the AFC stated.

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