…Justices BS Roy, Ramlal nominated

OPPOSITION Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday submitted a new list of persons to be

considered as the next chairperson for the Guyana Elections Commission to President David Granger, among them being retired justices, BS Roy and William Ramlal.

“Today, I submitted to President David Granger, the names of six persons for the appointment of a Chairman of GECOM, pursuant to the provisions of Article 161(2) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. The six names are: Justice of Appeal BS Roy (ret’d); Justice William Ramlal (ret’d); Ms Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, attorney-at-law and a former magistrate; Mr Kashir Khan, attorney-at-law; Ms Nadia Sagar, attorney-at-law and Mr Gerald Gouveia.

According to Jagdeo in a statement, having regard to the antecedents in relation to this matter, arriving at these six names was not an easy task. “I embarked upon an elaborate and protracted public and private consultative process which lasted several weeks, during which I solicited the views of, and sought nominations from, many nationally renowned persons and various important stakeholders and representative organisations, in my efforts to ensure that I present six names to the President who satisfy the requirements contemplated by Article 161(2) of the Constitution,” the opposition

leader said.

Jagdeo also mentioned that he had consulted Madam Justice Desiree Bernard, Madam Justice Claudette Singh (ret’d) SC, Mr Ralph Ramcharan SC, Timothy Jonas and Ronald Burch-Smith, but all indicated that their current commitments do not permit them to serve in the office of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, at this point in time.
“It will be observed, that in respect of the names which I submitted to the President, one(1) is a former Judge of the Court of Appeal of Guyana; one(1) is a former Judge of the High Court of Guyana; three(3) are attorneys-at-law with over ten(10) years of good

standing at the Guyana Bar and one(1) is a former magistrate and therefore, qualify to be Judges of a Court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in Guyana, in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana; and one(1) is a former Captain of the Guyana Defence Force, a Pilot, and a Businessman and Entrepreneur.”

In January, President Granger had made it clear that he will choose someone who is fit to be a judge as the new chairperson of GECOM.

During one of his weekly recordings of ‘The Public Interest’, the President revealed that the Constitution is clear on the required qualifications and it is obvious that what the drafters of the document had in mind was someone who had arrived at the position of a judge. The President made the comments after he had deemed “unacceptable,” a list which the opposition leader had submitted.
Having had his first list rejected, Jagdeo then requested that the President explain what he interprets as “fit and proper” before a second list could be submitted. The letter he (Jagdeo) received on March 16, 2017, detailed the “qualities that the candidate to be Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission should possess.”