GECOM Chairmanship…President willing to compromise on candidate

Mar 31, 2017 News

– “I did not pull criteria out of the sky”

By Brushell Blackman
President David Granger has brushed aside criticisms that the criteria he has set out for the

President David Granger

new Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman are too stringent, by stating that the clause or the article of the Constitution was written in a way to emphasise the qualities for which he has asked.
People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament Gail Teixeira, at a recent press conference stated that the Constitution did not contemplate many of the criteria set out by the president, including the need to have electoral knowledge. It was her belief that the thrust of what the Constitution places greater emphasis on, is the integrity and the independence of the post’s holder.
Addressing the issue at State House yesterday, Granger said “I’m sure if they look they will find people of impartiality and integrity, there are lots of them around”. Further, the Head of State stated that there are good Guyanese who satisfy the requirements which he has set out.
The President said that he “did not pull the criteria out of the sky” but rather, they were crafted based on the stipulations of the Constitution. Notwithstanding those concerns, the Head of State said that if the opposition is unable to find suitable candidates that satisfy those criteria, he is willing to sit down and have discussions with the Opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
Granger noted that it’s not the end of the world and he is interested in having a chairman as quickly as possible. He is also hopeful that Jagdeo wants the same. The President said he was looking forward to meeting with the Opposition leader on who his (Jagdeo’s) nominees are, and if there is a problem, it can be discussed further.
The Opposition PPP/C had indicated that it will be submitting a second list by the end of this week, and Teixeira had stressed that her party is finding it difficult to find candidates who conform to the criteria set out by President David Granger for the GECOM top post.
The criteria are as follows;  ”the candidate should be a person who is qualified to be a judge of the High Court under Article 129 of the Constitution and under Section 5 of the High Court Act, Cap 3:02; that person should have been an attorney-at-law for a minimum of seven years, according to Section 5 of the High Court Act, Cap 3:02; In the absence of 1 and 2 above ‘any other fit and proper person’ should be appointed according to Article 161 (2) of the Constitution.
The categories of persons specified above are necessary because 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 and that person will not be an activist in any form (gender, racial, religious etc),the persons should also have a general character of honesty, integrity, faithfulness and diligence in the discharge of his or her duty as Chairman.”