Harding should be punished, if found guilty — Mayor Chase-Green

By Telesha Ramnarine, April 4, 2016, http://guyanachronicle.com/har...y-mayor-chase-green/

Mayor Patricia Chase-Green

GEORGETOWN Mayor Patricia Chase-Green has said that there are too many unanswered questions in the case of alleged child-molester Winston Harding, but if he is found guilty of child molestation, he should pay the penalty.Chase-Green did not have very much to say on the issue, but she told the Guyana Chronicle she believes that the matter should be thoroughly investigated.

Winston Harding

To her knowledge, Harding has never been convicted in court due to a lack of sufficient evidence against him.

The allegations date back to 1999, Chase-Green observed, and hence, the victims would be old enough to come forward and ask for a retrial.

This has not happened, she further pointed out.

“There needs to be closure in this matter. The matter should be thoroughly investigated. If he is found guilty, then let him pay the penalty.”

Vincent Alexander, a commissioner at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had told the media that the laws governing Local Government Elections (LGE) do not provide for the recall of an elected councillor.

Results from Constituency 13 show that Harding, who campaigned on behalf of, and represented the APNU+AFC in the Local Government Elections, emerged with the most votes.

Alexander had explained that “there is no legal basis for [Harding’s] disqualification.”

“It is a moral question, political question, but it certainly is not a legal question,” Alexander said.

The GECOM Commissioner noted that the commission has to work with what is provided for in the law.

GECOM has said that the only way Harding could be replaced would be by virtue of a by-election within his constituency. By-elections could occur only if Harding resigns from his elected post on the Georgetown City Council, or dies while holding office.

APNU had withdrawn its endorsement of Harding following concerns raised over his representation of the coalition Government; but Harding won the East and West Ruimveldt Constituency by a landslide.

President David Granger, who heads APNU, has since said: “The matter would be discussed within the PNCR and our partners within the APNU before we proceed.”