— in light of naming of GECOM chair

OPPOSITION Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has warned that the Peoples’ Progressive Party (PPP) and all of its supporters at the regional and local levels will take a non-cooperative approach towards the government in wake of President David Granger’s decision to name retired Justice James Patterson as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The Opposition will also be soliciting international support even as it seeks legal recourse.

After submitting three lists with a total of 18 nominees for the chairmanship of GECOM, Jagdeo on Thursday evening was informed by the President that his third list, like the first two, was unacceptable.

It was during that meeting at State House that President Granger informed the Opposition Leader that he has taken a decision to appoint Justice Patterson, Chairman of GECOM.

“I am duty bound to say to you and to the nation that today is one of the darkest days of our fledgling democracy. On a night when we should be celebrating Diwali…the triumph of light over darkness, we have witnessed with this unilateral undemocratic decision of the President, a dark shadow over our country,” the Opposition Leader told reporters during a late night press conference at his Church Street Office as he bemoaned Government’s decision.

Upon being informed of the decision to appoint Justice Patterson, Jagdeo said he expressed his dissatisfaction.

“I said to him, it is my view that one, Mr. President that you are acting illegally, two, I do not share your interpretation of the Constitution… and three I believe that you are acting in bad faith,” Jagdeo said.

He recalled that on June 12, 2017, the Government and the Opposition had agreed that a high-level team would be assembled with representatives from both sides to resolve the issue surrounding the naming of the chairman in the event that the third list was rejected.

The Opposition Leader is of the belief that President’s requests for him to submit nominees for the chairmanship of GECOM were all part of a “smoke screen”.

“This was their intention right from the beginning. The charade to have three sets of names go before him, 18 names and he has rejected all 18 names was an attempt to frustrate me so that I would have at some stage lose faith and say I am not submitting another list, then he would have triggered this proviso to say that the Opposition has refused to submit additional names,” Jagdeo opined.

He further opined that the President has handpicked someone that is working for the Government. “Justice Patterson, I saw his CV here, he is on the Advisory Group to the Attorney General…. He is a person who is not so independent, he is working for the attorney general and he was head of the Commission of the Inquiry into the Guyana Prison Jail Break… so the President has handpicked this person to do two things before.”

He warned that if the President’s decision is allowed to go unchallenged the country would face serious consequences in the future.

“We have no choice, I will be meeting with the members of my party, I will be going across the country talking to people but right now we will be engaging the international community on this matter, two, we are going to say to our entire support base that they must not cooperate with this government on any issue, thirdly, we would hope that the civil society in Guyana will see this for what it is, an attempt to take our country back to the past,” the Opposition Leader said.

He made it known that the Opposition will no longer be sitting on a Border Committee as part of its decision to withdraw all support for any government driven initiative.

He further opined that this move is an attempt by government to rig the 2020 Elections but the Opposition will challenge this matter in the Court.

The Opposition is hoping to move to the Court as early as next week, stating that it will also move to the Caribbean Court of Justice if needs be.

GECOM has been operating without a chairman since February 2017 following the retirement of Dr. Steve Surujbally, who had been at the helm of the Commission for the past 15 years.