Pressure mounts over GECOM appointment

…as massive protest greets President on arrival at Parliament

A large group of protesters, supported by Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and other People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Parliamentarians congregated before Parliament reconvened on Thursday and demonstrated their disapproval of President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of (Rtd) Justice James Patterson as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections’ Commission (GECOM).

Citizens, some representing civil society and the Opposition PPP/C, were very vocal in expressing their displeasure over the recent controversial appointment and held up placards bearing various slogans calling for the President to respect the Constitution of Guyana.
President Granger also addressed the National Assembly amid an in-house protest by Opposition MPs armed with placards voicing their concerns over several actions taken by the APNU/AFC Administration since it took office in May 2015.
PPP/C MPs did not walk out of the House as President Granger was addressing the National Assembly at the end its two month recess, but instead held up placards and shouted slogans at times drowning out the voice of the President. Opposition MPs chanted slogans such as “free and fair elections”, “no more rigging” and “not fit and proper” in clear reference to the recent controversial GECOM appointment.
However, the President continued his address as if he was not bothered despite his voice was drowned out at times by Opposition chants.
Amid calls to have the issue relating to the appointment of the Chairman of GECOM addressed in the new Constitution, the Opposition Leader said that there is need to have strong compliance with the current Constitution now.
Addressing members of the media on Wednesday, Jagdeo said the idea being pitched around by supporters of the current Administration is that the issue could be fixed later, because the unilateral appointment of a GECOM Chairman is a “done deal” and does not have any bearing.
“We need constitutional compliance now,” Jagdeo said.
The former Head of State reminded that the Carter Formula has worked for over 25 years and both parties had agreed with it. He also noted that the current formula is enshrined in the Constitution, and therefore there is need for constitutional compliance to take place now.
“We can change the system in the future but until we do that (David) Granger and the others have to act in accordance with our Constitution,” he asserted.
Asked whether he was prepared to submit a fourth list to the President, the Opposition Leader said he would have done so if the President had agreed to comply with the court’s ruling.
Chief Justice Roxane George had ruled that the President is not obliged to select a person from the six names on the list unless he has determined that the persons are unacceptable as fit and proper for the appointment and that he cannot deem the entire list unacceptable if one or more nominees are not fit and proper.
Jagdeo maintained that the President acted in bad faith. He again accused the Head of State of being “untrustworthy”, pointing out that the move is unconstitutional in which he acted in defiance of a judgement.
“He renounced 25 years of common understanding and history between our parties and they are trying to polarise this country once again along the lines of race when this issue has nothing to do with this,” the Opposition Leader stated.
Responsible
debate not race
Another issue of contention raised by the Opposition was the fact that some groups and individuals, who are closely associated to the current Government, have moved away from having responsible debate about the issue and are now actively engaged in making it a race issue.
Jagdeo reminded that the issue has nothing to do with race, noting that while some people wanted to create an impression that his list did not contain any person of Afro-Guyanese background, that idea is false and from reality. “I have seen a flurry of activities delegated in the public media to distorting the fact surrounding the matter of the appointment of Chairman of GECOM,” he added.
Court action
The People’s Progressive Party has already filed High Court proceedings to quash the appointment of Justice Patterson as GECOM Chairman because he was not picked from among the 18 nominees and that he appears to be closely linked to the People’s National Congress Reform, the largest partner in the governing coalition.
Civil society, including the business community and trade unions have come out in strong opposition and have slammed the decision taken by President Granger. The Private Sector Commission has since condemned the decision as “dangerous” and a threat to democracy.
The United States (US) has also issued a call for Guyana’s High Court to swiftly settle the ongoing controversy over the appointment of the new GECOM Chairman.