Latest update May 13th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 23, 2017 News
Former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Alliance For Change (AFC), Trevor Williams, has been named by his party to replace the late Sandra Jones as the new commissioner on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Party sources confirmed that the decision was relayed by leader, Raphael Trotman, late Monday, following consultations with some members.
Jones, who was sworn in as commissioner following the death of Robert Williams, died over the weekend, further upsetting GECOM, which is still struggling to come to grips with the contentious appointment of Chairman, Justice James Patterson, as Chairman.
GECOM was reportedly preparing to hold its first meeting under Patterson, but Jones’ sudden death would have delayed that process.
On Monday, President David Granger requested AFC to nominate someone to replace Jones. However, there was reportedly no meeting of AFC’s National Management Committee (NMC) which should have made the decision.
While there was no committee meeting, several of its members were consulted.
AFC’s officials disclosed that should the President for some reason not find favour with Williams, there is another candidate that has been selected, as an alternate – Beverley Alert. A former spokesperson for the party, she now heads up a key media department of the Government.
There were some concerns why AFC’s leadership did not announce on Tuesday that Williams was named. AFC’s statement confirmed that a name had been submitted to the President, but it was not disclosed.
The GECOM’s post would be a key one for the party. The entity oversees national and local government elections in Guyana, with three members chosen from the Opposition and three from the Government. The chairman is the seventh person.
The AFC said Tuesday in a statement that the President asked for a name to be submitted.
“Upon his request, the party has submitted a name to His Excellency, President David Granger for consideration in naming a replacement for Ms. Jones as GECOM commissioner.”
The AFC also extended condolences to the family, relatives and colleagues of Ms. Jones.
“The party recognises Ms. Jones’ contribution to the Guyana Elections Commission since 2012 when she was sworn in as commissioner replacing Mr. Robert Williams. Ms. Jones also gave yeoman service in the field of management consultancy and human resources and is widely regarded as a patriot.”
AFC officials said that late Monday evening, the replacement name was being considered by the party.
Williams was a parliamentarian for the AFC in the last administration but was not returned in this one.
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