GPSU moves to hold elections a

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) plans to hold its elections tomorrow after a judge discharged an injunction that had barred it from proceeding without presenting information on its finances.

Although Justice Nareshwar Harnanan discharged the injunction yesterday, after the union said it presented evidence that included income and expenditure statements up to December 31, 2016, a group challenging the union’s executive is maintaining that holding elections so soon may not be possible if due process is followed.

The decision to discharge the injunction was made after midday yesterday by Justice Harnanan, just five days after he would have ordered an interim injunction against GPSU’s executive council postponing the elections by nearly two weeks unless it could produce the treasurer’s report for the past 12 years and the Auditor General’s (AG) report that was reportedly presented to them. The elections were initially scheduled for this past Monday, April 24.

Yesterday, First Vice President Mortimer Livan and Second Vice President Dawn Gardner made an appearance in chambers before Justice Harnanan at the High Court in Georgetown, where they, represented by the union’s attorney Roysdale Forde, submitted financial statements to the court.

According to a press release issued by the GPSU last evening, Justice Harnanan had found, after hearing submissions and reviewing the evidence presented, that allegations made against the union claiming it was non-compliant with the union’s rules and with the obligations outlined in the Trade Union Act were “erroneous and misconceived.”

It was further stated that the submissions made by Forde included evidence that the AG had been in receipt of the union’s audited accounts up until 2005 and the Income and Expenditure Statements and Balance Sheets up until December 31, 2016.

Furthermore, it was stated that the AG is in possession of the draft financial statements for the years 2006 to 2016, which have been submitted for audit.

Also attached to the press release was a letter, dated Monday, April 24th, signed by the Auditor General, which verified that the last audit done on the GPSU’s account was in December 2003, that the audit for the years 2004 and 2005 were completed and that letters were issued on November 4, 2016 relating to same, but a response to the findings is still being awaited.

“Both Mr. Gregory Gaspar and his instigator Mr. Jermain Hermanstyne were fully aware of these facts but deliberately set out to publicly misrepresent them for personal and petty reasons. They also advocated that their backward views should supersede rights of members in accordance with the rules of the Union. Investigations would reveal that both Mr. Gasper and Mr. Hermanstyne were amongst the poorest performers and achievers as members in the Guyana Public Service Union,” the GPSU release said.

Meanwhile, after the hearing yesterday, Forde noted that the application filed by Gaspar was predicated on an apparent misfeasance or abuse on the part of the executives or unwillingness to file and comply with the financial requirements of the union’s rules and regulations. “In fact it has not been so. The union has complied to the best of its ability with filing the necessary financial statements with the registrar of trade unions, as required by the Trade Union Act, and they’re also in accordance with the Trade Union Act and its own regulations and over the years would have submitted the necessary financial records to the Auditor General,” he said.

“The Auditor General, unfortunately, was not able to have all the audits done