Lack of quorum thwarts GECOM meeting on applicants
Yesterday’s meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), to discuss the methodology to be employed in the hiring of a Chief Election Officer (CEO) along with shortlisting candidates for the posts of Deputy CEO, Assistant CEO and Legal Officer could not be held as there was no quorum.
Government-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj explained that the Commission was unable to proceed because only Vincent Alexander showed up for the Opposition side.
Article 226 (5) of the Constitution states “For the purposes of the preceding paragraph a quorum shall consist, in the case of the Elections Commission, of the Chairman and not less than four members, two of whom have been appointed by the President in his or her own deliberate judgement and two from among members appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition tendered in accordance with article 161 (3) (b).”
With the absence of Opposition-nominated Commissioners Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman, GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh was forced to postpone the meeting. Alexander told this newspaper that his fellow commissioners are currently preparing for the interviews.
Gunraj related that the next meeting of the Commission would be on Monday when the interviews of Vishnu Persaud and Jamaican Leslie Harrow for the post of CEO would be conducted. The interviews are scheduled for 1 pm and 2:30 pm on Monday and would be done using the traditional format where the Commissioners break out into Committee mode and then interview each candidate using a predetermined score sheet to assign points to each person.
Based on previous score sheets, candidates will be judged on their qualifications, understanding of Guyana’s electoral laws and systems, knowledge of conducting elections, and overall understanding of the electoral landscape in Guyana among other criteria. After they have completed that process, the Commissioners will submit those score sheets to the Chair who will then tally them up and provide a report on the ranking of the interviewees. That process then allows for the full Commission to vote on the applicant they deem fit for the job.
Judging by the way the Commission is leaning, Justice Singh would more than likely have to cast the deciding vote since the government side is inclined towards Persaud as their pick and the Opposition side is rooting for Harrow.
Both men have experience in the field of elections with Persaud, a former Public Relations Officer and DCEO, being employed by GECOM for 17 years and Harrow with over 18 years with the Electoral Commission of Jamaica in senior managerial positions.
GECOM is yet to finalise the shortlists for
the remaining six positions.
On the preliminary shortlist are Melanie Marshall, Neil Bacchus, Mohamed Arjoon, and Deodat Persaud for the DCEO post. Delon Clarke, Noland Jervis, Melanie Marshall, Paul Jaisingh, Mohamed Arjoon, Neil Bacchus, Deolall Ramlall, Deodat Persaud, Natasha Grenion Dipchand, Andrea Sparman, Duarte Hetsberger and Colin April were shortlisted by the Chair to be considered for the post of ACEO.
Additionally, attorneys at law Shareefa
Parks, Kurt DaSilva, Kimberley Yearwood and Felicia Toby were listed as a possible replacement for the Commission’s former Legal Officer Excellence Dazzell.
The Chair named 5 persons to be interviewed for the post of Chief Accountant, 17 for Civic and Voter Education Manager, and 24 for Logistics Manager. Applicants for the Logistics Manager post include former acting Town Clerk for the Municipality of Georgetown, Sharon Harry-Munroe and former CEO Keith Lowenfield’s personal assistant Duarte Hetsberger.