…President Granger to provide clarification to Jagdeo

PRESIDENT David Granger has noted that the Constitution is very clear on the matter of the appointment of a Chairman for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and that he is committed to fulfilling the constitutional requirement within the ambit of the law. The Head of State, who was at the time responding to questions from members of media at State House, said that government has no interest in playing politics with the matter and will provide the clarification that Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, needs, as requested in his letter to the Head of State, sent on January 10, 2017.
“I am not playing politics, I am serious about the appointment of the Chairman of GECOM and as far as I can say, the Constitution is very, very clear. Mr Jagdeo did write to me and he asked for some clarifications. Well, it has now gone into the legal zone and we are going to ensure that he gets the legal clarifications that he needs, but in terms of the names, I am not in the business of naming names at this stage. I am in the business of satisfying the constitutional requirement for the appointment.
“The law will prevail and we will continue to engage the Leader of the Opposition as is required under the Constitution… We are looking at everything under the legal framework, not within the framework of politics or personalities,” the President was quoted as saying in a release from the Ministry of the Presidency.
According to the release, the Head of State emphasised that regardless of what had obtained in the past, the responsibility has now been vested in him as President of Guyana and the provisions of the Constitution will be followed.
He noted that any breaches that may have occurred in the past must not be allowed to persist.

“My understanding is that at all material times a member of the legal profession or several members of the legal profession were on the list, but my acceptance of the nomination …does not necessarily mean that I must accept the six names that were submitted. So it doesn’t follow the law of what you would call the ‘non sequitur’ [a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement].
“So the point is, even if the Constitution had been breached, or a nomination been made in breach of the Constitution — 10 or 20 years ago — there is no need to repeat it, so that’s not a precedent. I am accepting now as President that the constitutional provisions must be applied,” the Head of State said.
Though the list provided by the Opposition Leader does contain the name of Mr Christopher Ram, who was admitted to the Bar in 2009, this is the first time a Senior Counsel or a person qualified to be a judge or a former or current judge has not been included on a list submitted by an Opposition Leader.
President Granger had said that the list of nominees provided to him is unacceptable and falls short of the constitutional requirements.