McAllister has introduced a dimension to the Gecom debate which everyone else has avoided

Dear Editor, James McAllister’s letter to the editor (SN, June 8) is shocking and at the same time revealing. Mr McAllister states: “To be clear, this is not an argument for an African Guyanese to be named chairman of Gecom.” He then throws in as a palliative that “... there are many apolitical Indo-Guyanese who are technically and morally qualified [to be Gecom chairman].” But more importantly the once upon a time PNC parliamentarian concludes his missive stating, “However, for us to proceed with a process where Mr Jagdeo deliberately orchestrates the exclusion of Afro-Guyanese from serious consideration would mean we are falling for, and perpetuating, Mr Jagdeo’s scheme of disrespect for the Afro- Guyanese community.”

Mr McAllister can’t be serious! Let him look at the total picture since the APNU+AFC took office with respect to appointments to top positions in government entities, state boards, commissions of inquiry, permanent secretaries, constitutional commissions, Regional Executive Officers, Regional Chairmen and Mayors, just to name a few, and tell us what he sees in the bigger picture. Isn’t there some disrespect here for the more than half of Guyanese society?

And what about the three representatives of the APNU currently on Gecom?

As for the PPP, there are two IndoGuyanese and one Afro-Guyanese. Mr McAllister should tell us where and how his purported respect and disrespect reflect on that body.

An important point to note is that the two lists with the names submitted by Mr Jagdeo is not really Mr Jagdeo’s list per se as claimed by Mr McAllister. It is to be recalled that both lists were generated following consultations with civil society organizations. More particularly, in the case of the second list, consultations were held with 55 representatives of 33 civil society organizations.

The Constitution does not require Mr Jagdeo to submit his list; it merely calls for the leader of the opposition to submit a list. And the lists he twice submitted were lists backed by 33 civil society organizations whose membership is multi-ethnic, multireligious and multi-cultural.

Is Mr McAllister implying that these bodies consciously set out, as he said, to deliberately exclude AfroGuyanese from serious consideration

on the Gecom list and to disrespect the Afro-Guyanese community? Did Mr McAllister overlook this very critical, allinclusive process in arriving at the first and second lists?

What is sad, indeed very sad, about the entire thrust of Mr McAllister’s letter is that he has now introduced a dimension to the debate which everyone who has contributed thus far to this matter has avoided. And this is to be welcomed. Mr McAllister’s missive has soured the debate.

If Mr McAllister is of the view that he is being bold and forthright in framing his contribution the way he did, he is wrong. In fact, what he has done will have quite the opposite effect. His contribution will only serve to reinforce the view that everything is about race in Guyana. And this is a perspective which is uncalled for at this point in time in this rather sensitive matter.

By his own admission, Mr McAllister recognizes that not all Indo-Guyanese are sympathetic to the PPP yet, be that as it may, he insists that an Afro-Guyanese must be considered for the post. Anything short of this according to Mr McAllister is tantamount to “disrespect for the AfroGuyanese community.”‘

The President is free to lend his ear to Mr McAllister, his party comrade, and to go the full monty in the selection of a Chairman of his choice. However, in the final analysis what must be borne in mind is precisely what Mr Jagdeo said in his letter to Mr Granger: “...there will be litigation and other consequences for which the President will be responsible.” Yours faithfully, Clement J Rohee