Expressing confidence that most of the persons he nominated for the post of Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Chairperson meet the criteria outlined by President David Granger, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said that he would fight any attempt by the head of state to handpick his own candidate even as he expressed his willingness to prepare another list of nominees if necessary.
“He said that he had a preference for people who were former judges, and are eligible to be judges and five of those six persons meet those criteria. I suspect that he could find one from the five or the six who will discharge the functions of Gecom in an impartial [and] independent manner,” Jagdeo told a press conference yesterday.
Two weeks ago, Jagdeo nominated former appellate judge B S Roy, former High Court Justice William Ramlal, former magistrate and now practicing attorney Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, attorneys Kashir Khan and Nadia Sagar and former Guyana Defence Force Captain and businessman Gerald Gouveia for the post of Gecom Chairperson. Jagdeo submitted their names after his first list of nominees was rejected by Granger.
In his statement when the second list was submitted, Jagdeo pointed out that he tried to cover all the criteria set out by the president. “It will be observed, that in respect of the names which I submitted to the President, one is a former judge of the Court of Appeal of Guyana; one is a former judge of the High Court of Guyana; three are attorneys-at-law with over ten years of good standing at the Guyana Bar and one is a former magistrate and therefore, qualify to be judges of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in Guyana, in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana; and one is a former Captain of the Guyana Defence Force, a pilot, and a businessman and entrepreneur,” Jagdeo stated.
Jagdeo, based on a request by Granger, submitted the resumes for each of the six nominees but the President has not said anything on the matter since.
Asked about the issue yesterday, Jagdeo said that he took some time to put together the new list and therefore it was only fair that if the President wants to examine the names carefully, that he be given the time to do so.
Several months have passed since Dr Steve Surujbally left office.
Jagdeo, while stating that he wasn’t “too bothered about the timeframe,” expressed hope that the President will get back to him about the matter “shortly.”
Jagdeo told reporters that on his second list there are a number of persons who meet all the criteria outlined by Granger.
“I haven’t heard anything as yet. I don’t want to speculate but if, as what some people are saying, the President wants to appoint a person on his own, well, he’ll have a major fight on his hands,” he said.
Sources told Stabroek News over the weekend that based on preliminary evaluations, none of the persons nominated by Jagdeo is likely to be chosen.
Article 161 (2) of the Constitution states, “Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), 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.”
Asked about the possibility of submitting a third list, Jagdeo said that if such a request came from the President, he will have to submit a fresh list. “The Constitution provides for that.
I’ll have to submit another list if he rejects this one but it will be extremely unreasonable for him to do that, having made the huge effort to meet the criteria that he himself set out,” he said.
He added that in letters to the President he had pointed out that the criteria set out by Granger was not provided for in the Constitution but nevertheless he sought as far as possible to meet the criteria in selecting the nominees.
A submission on the “Qualities of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission” that was sent by Granger to Jagdeo said the candidate should be a person who is qualified to be a High Court judge and should have been an attorney for a minimum of seven years. It said that in the absence of candidates who do not meet these qualifications, “any other fit and proper person” should be appointed. In this regard, the statement specifies that such persons should have the following characteristics:
“a) 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
b) 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;
c) 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;
d) That person will not be an activist in any form (gender, racial, religious etc)
e) That person should not have any political affiliation or should not belong to any political party in any form, apparent or hidden;
f) That person should have a general character of honesty, integrity, faithfulness and diligence in the discharge of his or her duty as chairman.”