Govt not treating GECOM Chair issue with any level of urgency – Teixeira

Over one year has passed since the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been without a chairman and there is no clear indication as to whether this issue could be resolved any time soon.
Former Presidential Advisor Gail Teixeira is of the opinion that the issue is not being handled with any level of urgency and importance, noting that it is not just another ordinary issue.

The Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) told the recently-concluded 2017 Guyana Business Summit that how this matter was being handled had a lot to do with governance of the country.
The slothfulness, according to her, creates a certain image for Guyana, and this may, to some extent, cause investors to lose interest in starting up businesses here. But there are also other far-reaching implications if Guyana continues down the path of becoming politically unstable.
“We cannot go in the 10th month and have no chairman for GECOM,” she argued.
Teixeira explained that there was currently no continuous registration and people could not get registered because it was the Chairman of GECOM who would sign the order to start that process. The GECOM Chairman is also responsible for giving approval for elections and to have both a preliminary and final voters list.
Further, the Opposition Chief Whip said she also disagreed with the arguments presented by United States Ambassador Perry Holloway, who recently opined that GECOM was not at a “crisis point yet”, even though it has been without a chairperson since Dr Steve Surujbally resigned in November 2016.
Teixeira told the recent Business Summit, “I don’t care if the US Ambassador says that the GECOM is not in crisis. He is not Guyanese; he is not going to vote in these elections. We are.”
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has so far submitted three lists of six candidates each to President David Granger, two of which have since been rejected by the President.
The President is currently reviewing the third list, which was submitted to him in late August.
The third list comprises former GECOM Chairman, Major General (retired) Joseph Singh; Attorneys Teni Housty and Sanjeev Datadin; businesswoman Annette Arjoon-Martins; Pastor Onesi La Fleur and former Magistrate Krishendatt Persaud.
President Granger has continuously said that the list submitted by the Opposition Leader must match the criteria set out in Article 161 (2) of the Constitution for the selection of a “fit and proper” person to fill the post. He said he was looking at the third list critically and would make his decision based on advice received.
Acting Chief Justice Roxane Wiltshire, in her written ruling which was handed down recently, had found that Granger’s case proved to be irrational, highlighting that while the Constitution states that nominees for the post should be a judge, former judge or someone eligible to be a judge, the first two categories are not compulsory.
Furthermore, she noted that the term “any other fit and proper person” allowed more space to select the six candidates, while highlighting that “there is no mandatory category”.
President Granger has already rejected two lists and is currently considering the third list, all of which had been supplied by the Opposition Leader following consultations with sections of civil society.
Jagdeo opined that the President was merely engaging in diversionary tactics when it was reported that he was ‘dead set’ on appointing a fit and proper person, saying “whoever claimed in this country that the ruling interfered with his authority to appoint a fit and proper person, definitely not the Chief Justice and I did not say that.”
A meeting between President Granger and the Opposition Leader is yet to be finalised.