JOURNALIST and first year law student, Chevy Devonish was on Tuesday declared the newly-elected President of the University of Guyana Law Society (UGLS), following the premature resignation of Patrice Wishart. Wishart, who served in the position for approximately four months, had explained that his resignation was influenced by added domestic responsibilities which would have prevented him from adequately functioning as the Law Society’s president. As a result, the former president, who assumed his post in October last year submitted his resignation last week.

This led to the society’s elections commission being forced to call an early election which was held yesterday at the university’s Turkeyen Campus.
According to chairman of the Commission, Akeem Greene, the electoral process which saw four persons vying for the position went “extremely well”, given the fact that all candidates were pleased with the results and lauded the transparency.
Noting that the current industrial action by the staff of the institution would have affected the poor turnout of voters, Greene added that the commission took a decision to host the election on a day where there would have been a high turnout of students for classes.
The chairman noted that the commission had also adopted protocols from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which would have been applied at yesterday’s elections. “These election protocols such as how ballots are folded would have been adopted and as such, the electoral process mirrored that of national elections to a great extent,” Greene said.
Devonish who acquired 58 votes out of a total of 142 ballots cast, competed against Ron Motilall, Nicholas Carryl and Nicole Price. Of the 142 ballots, one was considered a “destroyed ballot.”
Speaking to this publication yesterday, the new Law Society president said he welcomed the elections results as he underscored the “expression of confidence” from the students in having him assume the presidency.
Devonish stated that he will work assiduously to ensure whatever was promised by him, will come to fruition. Among these goals, he noted that the internship programme for law students will be pursued aggressively by him to ensure that the law students gain the necessary experience before stepping into the world of law.
Additionally, the ongoing limitations of the placement of students at the Hugh Wooding Law School will be an issue which he will also pursue, with the aim of bringing about the best possible resolution.
Devonish’s short term will expire later this year when the elections are held as scheduled.
(By Ravin Singh)