PPP believes Granger setting stage to make unilateral appointment

GECOM Chairman

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) strongly believes that President David Granger is setting the stage to make a unilateral appointment of the next Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman and has signalled a warning that democracy is under threat.
In this regard, the Party on Tuesday said it is urging every right thinking Guyanese to raise their voice against the coalition Government’s worrying attempt to assault the electorate’s right to a free and fair election process.
The Party’s warnings come in wake of President Granger’s interpretation of the Constitution of Guyana which led to him rejecting the list of nominees submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo for the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
President Granger contended that the names submitted by the Opposition Leader do not have the requirements outlined in the Constitution. He believes that the Constitution limits the nominees to being Judge or being eligible to become one even though the Constitution provides for persons being “fit and proper” to be appointed as the GECOM Chairman.
Granger contended that the list submitted by Jagdeo is “unacceptable” on the basis of the Constitution even though many former GECOM Chairmen did not meet the criteria of being a Judge or possessing qualifications to become one. Granger’s rejection is also in light of the fact that he accepted the nomination to be GECOM Chairman in 1997 when his name appeared on the list submitted by then Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte to then President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Carter Formula
The PPP outlined that the Carter Formula is designed and intended to achieve consensus between Government and Opposition regarding the appointment of GECOM’s Chairman.
This is why the list emanates from the Opposition but must find acceptance with the President.
The Formula was constitutionalised unanimously in 1995 in the National Assembly. It was retained by the Constitutional Reform Commission 1999-2001. The speeches in the National Assembly and the notes of the Constitutional Reform Commission lauded the Formula for its consensual characteristics.
GECOM’s composition was also designed to achieve a certain degree of equilibrium, hence the composition of three nominees from the governing party and three from the Opposition, with the Chairman holding a balance with the power of a casting vote.

Unilateral appointment
The Party said if the President makes a unilateral appointment of a Chairman of his own choosing, then it will fundamentally alter that vital balance which the Constitution was designed to achieve.
“This will result in a tremendous loss of confidence in an already publicly impugned Elections Commission,” the Party warned. PPP noted that President Granger is the first President who has ever rejected a list submitted by the Opposition Leader.
“We think that this is the beginning of an elaborate plan to rig the next elections. We feel that the President is laying the foundation for the unilateral appointment of a Chairman of GECOM of his own choosing. Such an appointment will not only be unconstitutional but will certainly compromise the integrity of the electoral machinery. We always knew that once the [People’s National Congress] PNC holds the seat of Government democracy will be under threat. Our fears are becoming a reality,” the Party expressed in a statement to the media on Tuesday.

Interpretation
Given the gravity of the situation, the Party is urging the diplomatic community, civil society organisations, the Guyana Bar Association, the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, the Berbice Bar Association, the Guyana Human Rights Association, Red Thread, the labour movement, religious organisations, the Private Sector Commission and every Guyanese to raise their voice “against this self- serving, twisted and grossly erroneous interpretation of our Constitution and  to condemn this  intended assault on our democracy.”
Significantly, the PPP pointed out that the Opposition Leader, though not constitutionally obliged to hold consultations, met with every major representative organisation in the country regarding the appointment of a new GECOM Chairman.
These consultations produced the list submitted by Jagdeo to the President and the Party is contending that all of these stakeholders clearly could not have misinterpreted the Constitution.
“A rejection of this list is therefore a rejection of the voices of all these organisations. Is the President saying that all these organisations have interpreted the Constitution wrongly, and only his interpretation is correct?” the Party pondered.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has since been asked to submit a second list of nominees to the President.