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GEORGETOWN, Guyana, October 23, 2017 (CMC) – The Alliance for Change (AFC), a member of the coalition government, here, has welcomed the appointment of retired Justice, James Patterson, as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), even as the opposition regarded the situation as “one of the darkest days of our fledgling democracy”.
In a statement, the AFC said it had taken note of the appointment made by President David Granger, on Thursday night, adding that it “played no part in the selection process”.
The AFC said that it recognizes that according to the constitution, the process was purely between the President and the Leader of the Opposition, and that it “intends to use the constitutional reform process to ensure that there is wider participation of stakeholders in the selection of GECOM commissioners.
“It is regrettable that after three protracted rounds of consultations and submissions each of the three lists fell short of the requirements of the constitution. The party recognizes that the necessity had arisen for the President not to further delay the appointment of a Chairman. The appointment in the President’s own deliberate judgement has averted a looming constitutional crisis.”
The AFC said that now that GECOM is fully constituted, it expects that “it will commence its work, immediately, in preparation for local government elections in 2018 and regional and general elections in 2020”.
In the statement, the AFC said it wanted to condemn the position adopted by the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, “for his reckless and unpatriotic stance of non-cooperation and civil disobedience and the party will hold him personally accountable for the consequences of any civil unrest which may ensue”.
Jagdeo had told a news conference, following the appointment, that he was more concerned about the process at arriving at the new GECOM Chair, which he described as unconstitutional.
Prior to the appointment, Jagdeo had, at one stage, threatened legal action over the non-appointment of a GECOM chairman after President Granger had, on two previous occasions, declined to accept the names presented by the Opposition Leader as possible replacements.
A government statement said that Granger had placed “reliance on the ruling of the Honourable Chief Justice, Madame Roxanne George-Wiltshire, in the exercise of his decision to reject the third list, dated August 25, 2017”, indicating that Article 161 (2) of the Guyana Constitution “permits the President to act, independently, to appoint a person of the Judicial category to be the Chairman of GECOM, that is a person who is presumptively fit and proper”.
It said that Granger had written to Jagdeo even providing him at his request with a list of criteria or characteristics that would make the listed persons acceptable, before resorting to appoint Justice Patterson.
“I informed him that I found the third list of nominees, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition to me, dated August 25, 2017, was “unacceptable” within the meaning of the Constitution.
But Jagdeo, who met with President Granger prior to the announcement of Justice Patterson to the post, said the Head of state had acted, unilaterally, and declared a period of non co-operation with the government.
“We will be talking to our people across the country, as well as the members, to decide what else we will do, but right now, this government will not have our co-operation on any issue until they start complying with the constitution”.
The Opposition Leader announced that the PPP will no longer participate in the Border Commission, which is scheduled to meet this week to address issues related to the border controversy involving Venezuela.
Jagdeo also accused the government of setting up a plan to “rig” the next general elections.
“At the heart of this Presidency, I think, lies a sinister nature, and I have now, more and more, have to speak about the role this President played in rigged elections in the past […] this sucks us right back into the past,” he said, adding “today is one of the darkest days of our fledgling democracy”.
Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said the decision by President Granger poses “a clear threat to democracy and will inevitably divide the nation and lead to economic instability”.
It described the move by Granger as a “dangerous” decision, adding that it is “extremely unfortunate” that the President and the Opposition Leader failed to find an agreement on the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.
