President gave no clarity on rejected Gecom names -Jagdeo

President David Granger gave no clarity on questions posed about two rejected lists of Gecom Chairman nominees when he and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo met last Monday.

“The President said that he is not required by the constitution to tell me which of the twelve nominees were not acceptable,” Jagdeo told Stabroek News yesterday.

“So we will have now to be looking for other persons, not knowing precisely what he wants and it is like shooting in the dark,” Jagdeo added.

However, one source close to the process told Stabroek News that he believes Jagdeo’s request for clarity was “a trap” designed to “use the President’s own words against him”.

“Don’t be fooled by Mr. Jagdeo’s asking for this clarity. The crafters of the constitution knew why they did not ask for an explanation to be given… if his Excellency says then Mr.X or Mrs Y was acceptable it then begs the question ‘Why then you did not choose them?’ The list was unacceptable end of story,” the source stated.

Jagdeo and Granger met on Monday, with their respective representatives, following the rejection of a second list of nominees for Gecom Chairmanship and a request by the President for subsequent talks on the matter.

This list comprised retired judges BS Roy and William Ramlal, attorneys Oneidge WalrondAllicock, Nadia Sagar and Kashir Khan and businessman Gerry Gouveia in keeping with certain criteria outlined by Granger.

A first list comprising Christopher Ram, Ramesh Dookhoo, Ryhaan Shah, Professor James Rose, Lawrence Lachmansingh and Norman Mc Lean was rejected in January.

In his rejection of the second list Granger made it clear that the list must include six persons, who are all qualified so that the choice is not limited. “Every member of the list suggested must conform to the criteria and you cannot put on the list, a person who does not conform… I must be given a choice. I don’t believe that the second list gave me the range of choice that the people of Guyana deserve,” he said.

“I have examined the Curricula Vitae of the six persons in light of the criteria defined in my letter to you dated 2017.03.14. I have found the list to be ‘unacceptable’ within the meaning of the Constitution and of those criteria,” Granger stated in a letter to Jagdeo two Fridays ago.

According to a submission on the “Qualities of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission” that was sent by Granger to Jagdeo following the rejection of the first list, the candidate for the post should be a person who is qualified to be a High Court Judge and should have been an attorney for a minimum of seven years. It said that in the absence of candidates who do not meet these qualifications, “any other fit and proper person” should be appointed. In this regard, the statement specifies that such persons should have the following characteristics:

“That person is deemed to have wide electoral knowledge, capable of handling electoral matters because he or she is qualified to exercise unlimited jurisdiction in civil matters;

That person will discharge his or her functions without fear or favour, that is he or she will not allow any person or organization to influence him or her to compromise his or her neutrality;

That person will discharge his or her functions neutrally, between the two opposing parties as he or she would have done in court between two opposing litigants;

That person will not be an activist in any form (gender, racial, religious etc.

That person should not have any political affiliation or should not belong to any political party in any form, apparent or hidden;

That person should have a general character of honesty, integrity, faithfulness and diligence in the discharge of his or her duty as Chairman.”

Nonetheless, the talks on Monday resulted in Jagdeo saying that he will submit a third list of nominees and that a high-level team will be established, to explore all modalities for a resolution, should this list be rejected.

A joint statement issued by the parties stated that they agreed that it would be in the best interest of the people of Guyana that the choice of a Chairperson of Gecom is made “without undue delay”.

The statement also did not state the timeframe in which Jagdeo is to submit that third list.