Gecom Chairman nominations process

Jul 10, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

There have been no nominations made for the position of Gecom Chairman by the Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo (the only person empowered by the Constitution of Guyana to make nominations) via a list of six names as of 9th July 2019 in the Constitutional process of appointing a replacement for James Patterson.
Presently, representatives of the Leader of the Opposition and the President of Guyana are engaged in talks to assist the process. This ideally should be done informally and should include frank discussions and opinions away from the glare of the public; this is to spare the persons, who have allowed their names to be mentioned, privacy and respect with regard to discussions of their character.
Persons on the previous three lists submitted by the Leader of the Opposition form the basis for the opening of discussions. This was agreed upon by President Granger and Leader of the Opposition Jagdeo. The 18 names have been whittled down to 11 after the refusal of some persons to have their names resubmitted. In the case of Chris Ram and Sanjeev Datadin, disqualification was based on their involvement in court actions which placed them in direct opposition to the Granger administration.
President Granger received the list of 11 names and responded by formally submitting 8 names for the consideration of Bharrat Jagdeo. There is no provision in the Constitution for a formal submission of names for consideration by the leader of the opposition.
Article 161 (2) states that “…the Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person …to be appointed by the President from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition after meaningful consultation with the non-governmental political parties represented in the National Assembly…”
The Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo will make a list of six nominees and submit it as required by the Constitution of Guyana; he cannot, however, engage in a process that subverts the law; by making formal and official submissions of names for consideration, President Granger has made the difficult ‘backroom’ process near untenable.
Following the suggestion by the Caribbean Court of Justice that the process should include informal (backroom) discussions in good faith towards a consensus prior to the formal submission of the list of six nominees for the position of Chairman, a return should be made to the informal discussion of names for the process to go forward within the ambit of the Constitution and laws of Guyana.
We cannot take liberties and make compromises with our laws; for an inch is as good as a yard and then we find ourselves miles into anarchy. These are the facts.
Respectfully
Robin Singh

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News