…GECOM Chair was Desmond Hoyte’s pall-bearer
Head of State, President David Granger, has sought to distance the 84-year-old retired Justice James Patterson from any association with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), but this is apparently not altogether correct.
Defending his appointment of the retired Judge as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, on the sidelines of the swearing in ceremony for the Local Government Commissioners at State House, the President told reporters he was not aware that Justice (rtd) Patterson was a member of the PNC.
“I have never seen him at the PNC. Never!” Granger told reporters.
But investigations by this publication have since revealed that Justice (rtd) Patterson did in fact share a close relationship with the party.
Justice (rtd) Patterson was also among the pall bearers for the funeral of the late PNC leader and President, Hugh Desmond Hoyte, in 2002.
The retired Judge was accompanied by party stalwarts Roger Hoyte, Dr Dalgleish Joseph, Deborah Backer, Haslyn Parris and Artie Ricknauth in assisting to perform the last rites for the late President Hoyte.
President Granger, in defending Patterson’s appointment, told reporters “He was a judge of the High Court in Guyana….the information I have is he was Chief Justice of Grenada.”
Responding to his initial demands that the GECOM Chairman could not be a religious leader, the President has since backpedalled on this demand.
Granger has since told reporters it was merely a suggestion to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, and this was not necessarily incorporated as criteria enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana.
Questioned on the need to give reasons for his rejection of the 18 names that had been submitted for consideration by the Opposition Leader, the President said he was not sure that giving reasons was also catered for in the Constitution.
He told members of the media he is cognisant of the ruling by the Chief Justice, which noted that, as President, he must submit reasons for his rejection of each of the persons on the list.
The President, nonetheless, reminded that Guyana is a small country; adding, “I have to be careful about judgment of people’s character and capacity.”
He was insistent he had not seen any provision in the Constitution that translated into a requirement for him to provide reasons for rejecting any name submitted by the Opposition Leader for consideration for the GECOM Chairmanship, even as he committed to not acting in a manner contradictory to the Chief Justice’s ruling.
The President, in defending his action to unilaterally appoint Justice (rtd) Patterson, sought to impress on journalists that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had hounded the former Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, out of office.
He was adamant the Guyanese people had demanded, and need to have, a functional elections commission, and he said the situation that obtained could not be protracted at the whims of the Leader of the Opposition.
President Granger’s decision to unilaterally appoint retired Justice James Patterson as the GECOM Chairman has been soundly condemned and criticized by a wide cross section of society, and even Guyanese living overseas.
