Only the court can interpret the Constitution (Pt 2)

Dear Editor,
The letter from Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan, who, interestingly enough, signed it, not as a Government Minister, but on behalf of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), warrants a response.
Minister Bulkan also repeats what has been said by the Attorney General, and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, by saying that the President was forced to unilaterally appoint Reverend James Patterson as the GECOM Chairman. This cannot be accepted. It was the President who, according to the Department of Public Information, promised a collaborative way forward, if he rejected the third set of nominees.
On June 12, 2017, President Granger promised that, “A high-level team would be assembled representing the President and Leader of the Opposition which will begin to work immediately on exploring modalities to bring a resolution to this matter in the event that the list is rejected.” How then was the President’s hand forced?
Also, how can Guyanese accept Minister Bulkan’s reasoning that the President’s action “put an end to the shenanigans being perpetrated by Jagdeo, whose goal it was to have a chair who would be biased in favour of the [People’s Progressive Party] PPP.” First, the Opposition Leader held consultations with civil society to come up with the nominees. Second, it is President Granger’s nominee who is politically biased. Reverend Patterson was a pallbearer at the private funeral ceremony for the late People’s National Congress leader, Desmond Hoyte. Reverend Patterson was listed as part of the ‘Rally Around the PNC’ group. It is Reverend Patterson’s whose integrity is now being questioned after he claimed that he was the Chief Justice of Grenada in 1987 – something that no one seems to be able to confirm.
Minister Bulkan claims that Local Government Elections are due by December 7, 2018 and a GECOM Chairman had to be appointed. If this was the case, then there were qualified and competent professionals who were nominated. Why didn’t the President choose one of them? Will Guyanese ever know the reasons for President Granger’s rejection of the list submitted by the Opposition Leader? If Minister Bulkan wants to claim that the list submitted by the Opposition Leader was flawed, he should provide reasons to substantiate that claim.
Minister Bulkan goes on to “commend the many letters and other expressions of support for the courageous action” taken by President Granger. However, the fact is that other than the PNC and groups, as well as individuals, aligned to the PNC and the Government, there has been widespread condemnation of the President’s unilateral appointment of Reverend Patterson as the GECOM Chairman.
There is only one acceptable point that Minister Bulkan makes. It is that, “We have come a long way from a colonial system of governance and accompanying mentality, we have much work to do to build and maintain our fledgling democracy.” For this reason, we cannot allow the President’s breach of the Constitution to go unchallenged. In this light, the court challenged mounted by the PPP is welcomed by right-thinking Guyanese.

Sincerely,
Nigel Dharamlall
PPP/C Member of
Parliament