PRESIDENT David Granger has rejected the second list of nominees for the chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which was submitted by Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, who has since threatened to take legal action if a GECOM chair is

unilaterally selected by the President.
In a statement issued to the media yesterday evening, Jagdeo said he received a letter from the President on June 2, informing him that the list of six persons nominated for the post is “unacceptable.”

President Granger back in March had laid out the “qualities that the candidate to be Chairman of the GECOM 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.

Jagdeo had submitted the second list to the President on May 2, after his first list of nominees was also rejected in January. In his statement yesterday, Jagdeo attached the President’s letter, which stated that “I have examined the Curricula Vitae of the six persons in light of the criteria defined in my letter to you dated 2017.03.14. I have found the list to be ‘unacceptable’ within the meaning of the Constitution and of those criteria.”

Jagdeo’s second list of nominees included: 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 the Opposition Leader’s statement, the President’s letter does not indicate what next steps, if any, he [the President] requires to be taken.
“The Leader of the Opposition notes with deep concern the cavalier and callous manner in which the President continues to express no confidence in and denigrate the professional reputations, integrity and competence of Guyanese of high calibre who have rendered sterling contributions to the development of our country and in service to our people; and who have distinguished themselves in their individual endeavours and pursuits,” Jagdeo noted in the statement.

LEGAL ACTION
Jagdeo reiterated that the President is bent on unilaterally selecting a person of his choice in violation of the letter and spirit of Article 161 (2) of the Constitution and the Carter Formula.
As such, the Opposition Leader threatened that there will be consequences if the President chooses to go down this path.
The President’s letter was received a few hours after Jagdeo concluded a press conference, at which he was critical of the President’s overall approach to the GECOM issue. According to Jagdeo, the absence of a GECOM Chairman is stymying the work of the commission.

“The President has had enough time to deal with this matter…more and more I get the feeling that this delay is just to make it seem as though there is serious consideration of the names just to create a facade,” Jagdeo said. When he had submitted his second list, Jagdeo noted that arriving at the six names was not an easy task, as he had embarked upon an elaborate and protracted public and private consultative process which lasted several weeks. He had consulted Madam Justice Desiree Bernard, Madam Justice Claudette Singh (ret’d) SC, Mr Ralph Ramkarran SC, Timothy Jonas and Ronald Burch-Smith, but they 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.