Opposition’s list meets Govt’s criteria – Jagdeo

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is claiming that the new list of nominees for the position of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has met the criteria that President David Granger, and by extension the Government, had requested. Jagdeo told a media conference on Monday that if the President rejects the most recent list submitted, he would have to submit another list. However, he feels it would be extremely unreasonable for the President to reject this list, especially since he had made a “huge effort” to meet the criteria that the President himself had set up, and he has, as far as possible, met those criteria.

“…which I pointed out to him is not provided in the Constitution. As you saw on the list, you have a number of people who will meet all the criteria the President himself set,” he opined.

It has been two weeks since Jagdeo submitted that list, and there has been no word from the President on the process to appoint the new GECOM chairman. The Opposition Leader said he has no problem with the President taking his time to review the list carefully.

“It took me some time to get the list together, and so I guess it’s only fair, if the President wants to examine the names carefully, and then he should have some time too. I am not too bothered about the timeframe, but I hope he gets back to me shortly,” Jagdeo added.

On Tuesday, May2, Jagdeo submitted a new list of persons for consideration as the next chairperson of GECOM. The six nominees are: Justice of Appeal BS Roy (ret’d); Justice William Ramlal (ret’d); Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, attorney-at-law and a former magistrate; Kashir Khan, attorney-at-law; Nadia Sagar, attorney-at-law; and Gerald Gouveia.

Prior to the submission of this new list, Jagdeo’s first list was rejected by the President, who claimed that the six nominees were not qualified according to constitutional requirements.

The Opposition’s first batch of rejected nominees had included Governance and Conflict Resolution Specialist Lawrence Lachmansingh; Attorney-at-Law and Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram; Major General (rt’d) Norman McLean; Business executive Ramesh Dookhoo; Indian Rights Activist Rhyaan Shah, and History Professor James Rose.

The Opposition has contended that the President’s rejection of the names on ground that the persons did not meet the constitutional requirements was “wholly untenable”, and it would explore options at its disposal, including moving to the Courts, to challenge the president’s decision.

Both sides have been very vocal on the issue, with the President stating that what obtained in the past was a mistake, and the right way was now being chartered: while the Opposition has posited that Government could be looking to unilaterally appoint someone who would be beneficial to the APNU/AFC coalition, especially in the run-up to the 2020 elections.

Jagdeo has repeatedly warned that if the President opts to unilaterally name someone outside of the list of nominees, the decision will be challenged in the High Court.

Former GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally officially demitted office on November 30, 2016 after 15 years of incumbency.