PRESIDENT David Granger has laid out the criteria for the position of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), among them being that the person must have no political affiliation and that the person should have the general characteristics of honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and diligence.
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, had sent to President Granger an earlier list which the Head of State found unacceptable. The list included the likes of Rhyaan Shah and the PPP’s candidate, Dr James Rose.
In a release, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo noted that he had received from President Granger a list of criteria which must be fulfilled by persons nominated for the position of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). The letter which contains the requirements was received by the opposition leader on March 16, 2017. This became necessary after the President had stated that the qualifications of the six persons on the first list did not match the criteria set out in the Constitution.
Article 121 (2) of the Constitution states that, “Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person who holds or who has held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court, or who is qualified to be appointed as any such judge, or any other fit and proper 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.”
Having had his first list rejected, Jagdeo then requested of the President to explain what he interprets as “fit and proper” before a second list could be submitted. The letter he (Jagdeo) received on March 16, 2017, details the “qualities that the candidate to be Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission should possess.”
Among the requirements were, inter alia, that the individual must not be an activist of any form (gender, racial, religious, etc); that the person must have no political affiliation; and that the person should have the general characteristics of honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and diligence.
Having studied this information, the opposition leader said in a statement that he had “grave reservations” on the legality and constitutionality of these criteria and intended having these concerns brought to the attention of the President.
The opposition leader said too that after receiving the letter, he decided to return to and consult with civil society bodies which had participated in the December 2016 consultations with him.
These consultations were held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, when he met with 55 representatives of 33 civil society organisations. Some of these representatives included religious leaders; members of the private sector; trade unions, including the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG); Indigenous organisations, including the National Toshaos Council; the Indian Action Committee (IAC); and the Justice Institute.
According to the statement, the letter received from President Granger was shared with the representatives of these bodies at the consultation exercise and they were asked to discuss the contents and possible candidates for consideration by Monday March 27, 2017.
Although given until March 27 to come up with names, the statement highlighted that “participants found it difficult to come up with candidates who would fulfil all of these criteria.”
“In fact, persons doubted if the President himself could find anyone who fulfilled his own criteria. Some wondered what the reasons were for the President making the range for selection so extraordinarily restrictive. In fact, these criteria were seen as an imposition on the constitution which makes no such demands,” the statement read.
Further, it was noted that what was more “disconcerting to all” was the clause in the letter which states that: “(d) that a person will not be an activist in any form (gender, racial, religious, etc.,)”.
Jagdeo expressed the view that this is thought to be “discriminatory” and violated the anti-discrimination articles of the constitution. However, he was keen to note in the statement that he remains committed to submitting six more names as requested by the President, and urged that the civil society bodies respond by March 27, 2017, as this was an urgent and critical issue for the entire nation and its stability.