President “fooling around” if he rejects third list – Gaskin

By Samuel Sukhnandan

Now that a third list of nominees for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been submitted to President David Granger, close attention will be paid to how the President responds to this new submission, especially after he rejected two previous lists.
Outspoken political commentator and economist, Ramon Gaskin, thinks if the President rejects this list, it would send a clear message that he is more focused on complicating the process of selecting another Chairman for one of the most important constitutional offices in Guyana.
“It would mean that he is fooling around and that he wants to put his own person there. And it also means that he is trying to get (Bharrat) Jagdeo frustrated, because once Jagdeo stops submitting lists he could say that he has no list in front of him,” he opined.
Gaskin reminded that the Constitution allows the President the option of appointing someone of his choice, but only on the basis that the Opposition Leader fails to submit a list. “The Constitution says (David) Granger could pick somebody. That is what I think he would like to do. He may not get away with it, but that is what he may want to do,” the political commentator added.
He continued, “(David) Granger is only confortable with people he picks. He has to pick the person who he is comfortable with. He likes to pick military people and People’s National Congress (PNC) people. He wants to be able to pick the person… he has strong dictatorial tendencies.”
Gaskin also made reference to the recent incident which was brought to the public’s attention, where the President through Minister of State Joseph Harmon, instructed the Police Service Commission (PSC) to put a hold on promotions for senior Police ranks. The commentator reminded that this move breaches the Constitution, as Granger cannot dictate when senior Police ranks should be appointed.
Shifting his attention back to the GECOM chairmanship, Gaskin said he sees no reason why the President would want to reject the third list of nominees. “I would hope that he chooses somebody from the third list. There are some good candidates there and I hope he chooses one. I don’t think he can say that this list is no good. You have people there who are more qualified. He should be able to find somebody.”
On submitting the third list on August 25, the Opposition Leader said he is hopeful that the President would take into consideration the ruling of the acting Chief Justice (CJ) in regard to the constitutional stipulation governing the appointment of a Chairman for the GECOM.
This list of nominees for the GECOM chairmanship includes Major General (retired) Joseph Singh; Teni Housty; Sanjeev Datadin; Annette Arjune-Martins; Onesi LaFleur and Krishnadatt Persaud.
In a letter to the President accompanying the list, Jagdeo said arriving at the six names was not an easy task. He said that regarding the antecedents in relation to the matter and a subsequent meeting with the President at State House back in June, he continued to elaborate and protracted consultations with various stakeholders in an exercise that lasted for several weeks.
During that process, Jagdeo said he solicited their views and sought nominations in efforts to ensure that six names were presented to the President that satisfy the requirements contemplated by Article 161(2) of the Constitution.
Regarding the nominees, Jagdeo explained that one is a former Chairman of GECOM, while two are attorneys with over 10 years of “good standing” at the Guyana Bar, and both are qualified to be appointed as Judges of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in Guyana.
Another of the nominees, he explained, is an attorney with over 40 years of good standing, and is a former Magistrate who served in that capacity for over 20 years; another nominee is a business executive in the local airline industry, and has received national and international acclaim for her work in protecting Guyana’s biodiversity; while the other person has distinguished himself as an agriculturalist, and has made a sterling contribution in Guyana and the Caribbean in the area of education and religion.
Following the rejection of the second list, a consultation was held among Jagdeo, Minister Harmon, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall and PPP/C parliamentarian Irfaan Ali to find an amicable solution to the issue.
It was agreed that in the event that the third list is rejected by the President, a high-level team would be established, representing the President and the Opposition Leader, to begin working instantaneously on exploring modalities to bring a resolution to the matter. However, there has been no word on this team.
GECOM has been without a Chairman since February 28, 2017, when Dr Steve Surujbally stepped down after 15 years at the helm.