THE People’s Progressive Party is protesting the decision of the Guyana Elections Commission to reject the rehiring of Vishnu Persaud as its deputy chief elections officer(DCEO).

The matter was decided on Tuesday when the full commission met for its statutory meeting. Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (ret’d) James Patterson, on Tuesday used his casting vote to reject the rehiring of Persaud, who had been accused in the past of alleged corrupt practices. The rejection of Persaud, whom the PPP said emerged at the top of the list of other applicants for the post, will see a complaint being lodged at the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).

Speaking at a press conference held immediately after Tuesday’s statutory meeting, PPP-nominated Commissioners Robeson Benn, Bibi Shadick and Sase Gunraj, all condemned the move by Justice Patterson. The commissioners told reporters that Persaud scored some 76 points in his assessment while Roxanne Myers; the second-ranked applicant scored 72 points. However, Justice Patterson opted to vote for Myers to be appointed DCEO.

“It could not be fair, could not be perceived to be rational that a position of this sort should emerge given all the circumstances and I fear that we cannot rely on informed, rational, fair judgments of the GECOM Chairman in the position which he now occupies,” said Benn, who stressed that on the principle of meritocracy, the chairman’s decision cannot stand. Attempts to contact Justice Patterson on the matter Tuesday proved futile.

The PPP has objected to Justice Patterson’s appointment as GECOM chair, stating that he is not best suited for the job. Only recently, the High Court ruled that the President’s appointment of Patterson was constitutional. The opposition has since filed a Notice of Appeal in the said matter, while calling on the president to appoint a nominee from the 18 names submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

Meanwhile, Benn said his party is disappointed and regrets the decision made by the commission which hinged on the casting vote of Justice Patterson. “For us this is not a matter simply of race and ethnicity, it is [a] matter in respect of fairness. It is a matter which we believe we have to take positions in respect of writing letters and making approaches to the ERC and also we have to internationalise this issue and discussion,” said Benn, who was recently vocal on the ethnic composition of staff of the commission.

According to Benn, the entire selection process was done according to evaluations by each commissioner on the sub-committee. He reminded that Persaud who served for a number of years as DCEO came off the job when the work of the commission halted following the retirement of former GECOM Chair Dr. Steve Surujbally. He explained that commissioners representing the government, Charles Corbin, Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman, despite knowing that Persaud secured the highest scores, raised objections to his appointment.

“On our side we thought that these objections were spurious, have no basis in fact and perhaps could only be motivated by judgments on what could only be described as this point in time as not being fair to the person who emerged,” Benn told reporters at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

A subsequent evaluation was done, which resulted in Persaud maintaining the top spot, but in spite of this Benn said the matter was put for the chairman to use his casting vote. “We have grave concerns where a Guyanese who is eminently qualified for the position, a person who performed in that job for several years, a person whose record and evaluation didn’t involve any sanctions, has been rejected.”

Similarly, Commissioner Shadick, the lone female commissioner, told reporters that despite Persaud’s success in what can be deemed a fair process, Justice Patterson opted to vote against him returning as DCEO and voted for Myers, who is Afro-Guyanese to be appointed DCEO. The PPP commissioner made it clear that Persaud “was no friend of the PPP,” nor was he “giving secrets or cooperating with the PPP commissioners.” “We have no personal reason for wanting him there,” Shadick told reporters.

Accusations against Persaud
However, back in 2016, Persaud was accused of being corrupt. It was alleged that despite having a public relations officer (PRO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at the time, Persaud carried out some of that officer’s duties during the last elections. Sources within the commission had told the Guyana Chronicle that Persaud took charge of all Civic and Voter Education responsibilities despite their falling within the ambit of the PRO.

However, Persaud had denied those allegations. In 2014, Persaud while appointed as DCEO, wrote and signed documents as the entity’s public relations officer.
In documents seen by this publication, Persaud had signed as PRO and DCEO, but had denied this while asserting that there was a vendetta against him by persons within GECOM and the public outburst about his involvement in corruption is geared at besmirching his character.