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Jun 25, 2017 AFC Column, Features / Columnists
The appointment of a new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) remains a trending topic in national conversations. Speculation is rife, with a lot of suppositions and threats emanating from the Opposition. This process has never really been easy or straight forward, but sensible, forward-thinking men and women had been able in the past to draw up lists of nominees that did not provoke contention and threats.
This recent contretemps over finding a suitable Chairman for the Elections Commission really started to simmer before the departure of the last GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally. It began to boil in the immediate aftermath of the 2015 general elections when the PPP started the shouting, demanding that Surujbally goes away. He (Surujbally) eventually proceeded on well-earned retirement after the search for his replacement had begun.
Since the Carter formula was implemented in the run-up to the 1992 elections (it was subsequently enshrined in the Constitution), there have been no prior instance of a President finding the list of nominees submitted to him to be so unacceptable. We are indeed in uncharted territory.
The first list submitted by Jagdeo in December 2016 could be reasonably deemed unusual and noticeably different. But let’s backpedal a few decades.
In 1991, then Opposition Leader, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, submitted the following list to then President Desmond Hoyte:-
Ambassador Rudy Collins was selected by Hoyte.
In 1995 after the PPP/C assumed office and prior to the 1997 elections, Desmond Hoyte who was leading the Opposition at the time submitted the following list to President Cheddi Jagan:-
He selected Attorney Doodnauth Singh.
In 2000, Opposition Leader Hoyte submitted the following list to Jagdeo who had recently replaced Janet Jagan as President. That list was composed of:-
Then President Jagdeo selected Retired Major General Joseph Singh who resigned about one (1) year later, so in March 2001, Desmond Hoyte had to submit another list to the President. This one was identical to the Y2K list, save for one change – Maj. Gen. Joe Singh was replaced by Dr. Steve Surujbally, and the rest, as they say, is history.
You would observe though that Justice Rudolph Harper had featured on all three lists submitted by the late President Hoyte. Before he retired from public service, Justice Harper had been a Justice of Appeal, a Puisne judge and Chief Justice.
In 1991, the list that had been submitted by Opposition Leader Cheddi Jagan had included Attorneys-at-Law Edward Luckhoo, Bryn Pollard (who is also a former Chief Parliamentary Counsel), and Joey King.
So, here we are in 2017 and the first list submitted by Jagdeo in December 2016 could best be described as historic and unusual. Whether it was deliberate or not, the list did not include the name of one ranking member of the legal profession – no former judge, or a Senior Counsel who qualified to be appointed a Judge. It does include Accountant Christopher Ram who holds a Legal Education Certificate (LEC) and was admitted to the Guyana Bar in October 2009. Here is the December list:-
President Granger then requested a different list from which he had to have the ability to select from a field of very eligible candidates. It was not enough that the December list contained only one member of the legal fraternity. He has been insisting on the nominees/list being chosen in strict accordance with Article 161 (2) of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. That Article states, “The Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person who holds or who has held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court or who is qualified to be appointed as any such judge, or any other fit and proper person, to be appointed by the President from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition after meaningful consultation with the non-governmental political parties represented in the National Assembly”.
So a second list was prepared and submitted by the Opposition Leader in May, 2017. This time the list consisted of:-
President Granger had outlined in very specific terms the qualities that should reside in ALL (or most) of the people presented on any list in accordance with the inferences in the aforementioned Article 62, and there should be a sufficiently wide field of nominees to choose from. Those qualities include impartiality, political neutrality, and no record of activism for any racial, religious or gender-based cause. The candidates must be honest, of high integrity, faithful and diligent.
The Opposition Leader is now required to produce a third list of nominees, minus the threats of creating social and economic instability if he doesn’t have his way. The Head of State still has the option of working together with the opposition to reach a consensus and appoint an impartial candidate to govern the elections mechanisms.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
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