Granger, Opposition Leader meet on GECOM chair…Jagdeo rejects two names proposed by President Granger –submits another four nominees

Jul 18, 2019 News

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, has rejected two names proposed by President David Granger for the chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Let’s talk now: l-r- PPP’s Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, Anil Nandlall, Volda Lawrence and Joseph Harmon.

Yesterday, four persons- two each from the Government and Opposition sides- met at the Ministry of the Presidency to resume talks on shortlisting names to six so that Jagdeo can submit a list to President Granger.
“At the meeting (yesterday) to further hammer-out names of persons for the Chairman of the Elections Commission, four additional names were submitted by the Leader of the Opposition for consideration. The two names previously suggested by the President did not find favour with the Leader of the Opposition,” a joint statement said afterwards.
The two rejected names are Kessaundra Alves, the current chair of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and Justice (Ret’d) Claudette La Bennett.
The representatives of the President at the meeting were Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, and Joseph Harmon, Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency.
For the Leader of the Opposition, the representatives were the Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, and

Rejected: Kessaundra Alves

Anil Nandlall of the People’s Progressive Party.
According to the joint statement, the four names will now be submitted to the President for consideration and the process of hammering-out will continue today.
The process to select a new chairman for GECOM is key as President David Granger says he is awaiting that so he can be advised to announce a date for elections.
Less than four years in office, the one-seat Coalition Government faced its most serious hurdle after an Opposition-tabled no-confidence vote was carried, causing the administration to fall.
However, the administration went to court. The cases, including the legality of the vote and that of Charandass Persaud, the government parliamentarian who sided with the Opposition.
Persaud was accused of being a dual citizenship.

Justice (ret’d) Claudette La Bennett

The matter went all the way up to the Caribbean Court of Justice with the court last month upholding the vote but said it is illegal to hold dual citizenship and still sit in the National Assembly.
The court, in orders, last week stopped short of announcing an elections date.
Rather, it ruled that the 2017 unilateral selection of Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM was flawed.
He resigned a few weeks ago.
With elections expected within months, the choice of a new chair has been a hard-fought battle.
By regulations, the Opposition Leader submits a list of six names and the President chose one not unacceptable to him.
However, CCJ opened the door for the President to also submit names.
The process of shortlisting those names is what is happening now.