Following several rounds of consultations, civil society groups have made several submissions with regard to their nominees for the chairmanship of the Guyana Elections Commissions (GECOM) to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had on March 21, met with 55 representatives of 33 civil society organisations, which included leaders of the Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths; the Private Sector, the Guyana Trades Union Congress and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana; Amerindian organisations, the National Toshaos Council and the Justice Institute.
During the consultation last week, the civil society bodies were given up to March 27 to submit the names of nominees that met the new requirements set out by President David Granger.
According to Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, at a press conference on Wednesday, some of the groups have made their submissions while others are having difficulties finding persons to fulfil all the criteria set out by the President.
“We’ve got about 12 to 15 (submissions)…but there are some civil society bodies who’ve indicated that when they examined the criteria, even when they come up with names, not one name can fulfil all the criteria,” she stated.
Teixeira explained that while the proposed nominees may meet one requirement, such as exercising jurisdiction in civil matters, they may not fulfil the other part of the criteria which is a wide electoral knowledge.
She added that should one go “strictly” by the new requirements, even the nominees submitted by civil society may not fulfil the criteria. To this end, the Opposition Chief Whip insisted that the criteria set by the President undermined the constitutional provisions and were causing extreme duress in finding nominees.
“His Excellency, the President, has gone beyond the Constitution and place undue restrictions and pressure and duress on the selection of the position of Chairperson, which the Constitution itself did not contemplate. The focus of the Constitution was the integrity and the independence of the post holder, and we stand firmly by that position,” she noted.
According to Teixeira, the remaining submissions of nominees from civil society for the GECOM chairmanship are to be handed over by the end of Wednesday. She added upon the receipt of all the nominees, the Party would then examine the next step forward.
After rejecting the initial list submitted by the Opposition Leader, President Granger has since outlined the qualities that the nominees for the GECOM chairmanship should possess in order for him to consider them for the post.
The President’s criteria state that the candidate should be qualified to be a judge of the High Court or an Attorney for a minimum of seven years.
In the absence of those requirements, the President said any other “fit and proper person” should have wide electoral knowledge and be capable of handling electoral matters since he/she was qualified to exercise unlimited jurisdiction in civil matters.
That person should not be an activist in any form – gender, racial or religious nor should that person have any political affiliation or belong to any political party in any form, apparent or hidden.
That person must be able to discharge his/her functions neutrally, between the two opposing parties, as he or she would have done in court between two opposing litigants.
Additionally, the person must be able to discharge the functions without fear or favour, not allowing any person or organisation to influence him or her to compromise his or her neutrality.
The President also said that the person should have a general character of honesty, integrity, faithfulness and diligence in the discharge of their duty as Chairman of GECOM.
However, following the consultations with the civil society bodies last week, a statement from the Opposition Leader’s office noted that the criteria were considered “an imposition on the Constitution which makes no such demands”.
The statement said most disconcerting was the stipulation that the candidate must not be an activist in any form. “(It) was thought to be discriminatory and violated the anti-discrimination articles of the Constitution,” the statement explained.
During the consultations, Jagdeo said he had grave reservations about the legality and constitutionality of these criteria outlined by the President. In fact, he expressed his intention to bring these concerns to the attention of the Head of State.
Nonetheless, the Opposition Leader said he remained committed to submitting six more names as requested by the President.
