The GECOM Chair saga

Now that a third list of nominees for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been submitted to President David Granger, it is hoped that he (the President) would move with haste and go ahead in making the appointment to this important constitutional office.
As reported in the media, the list of nominees submitted last Friday, after another set of consultations and meeting with individuals and stakeholder groups, includes Major General (retired) Joseph Singh; Teni Housty; Sanjeev Datadin; Annette Arjune-Martins; Onesi LaFleur and Krishnadatt Persaud.
As one would expect, this was not an easy task, as for the third time the Opposition Leader has had to solicit stakeholders’ views and seek nominations in efforts to ensure that the six names presented to the President satisfy the requirements contemplated by Article 161(2) of the Constitution.
GECOM has been without a Chairperson for several months now and while the Government may want us to believe otherwise, no one can deny the fact that important aspects of the work of the Commission are being held up unnecessarily. We have seen the complications that have arisen from what in the normal course should have been a simple and straight forward process.
It could be recalled that after rejecting the initial list submitted by the Opposition Leader, the President had outlined the qualities the GECOM nominees should possess. He had stated that the candidate should be qualified to be a Judge of the High Court, or should have been an attorney for a minimum of seven years. In the absence of those requirements, the President had said, any other “fit and proper person” could be considered, providing he/she is deemed to have wide electoral knowledge and is capable of handling electoral matters, since he/she is qualified to exercise unlimited jurisdiction in civil matters.
However, local businessman Marcel Gaskin moved to the High Court in March to challenge the constitutionality of the President’s reasoning. And in handing down her ruling last month, the acting Chief Justice acknowledged that the President can determine whom he deems “fit and proper”, but she overruled the President’s interpretation of the Constitution by finding that there is no particular preference for the appointment of persons with legal training. The least one could expect therefore is that, in making his decision, the President would take into consideration the ruling of the acting Chief Justice in regard to the constitutional stipulation governing the appointment of a GECOM Chairperson.
With Local Government Elections due in 2019 and National Elections in 2020, it is necessary that the President makes his decision soon so that a full commission is in place to commence work for these important elections and to resolve all outstanding issues affecting the work of the electoral body.
The sooner the issue is sorted out, the better it would be for the new chairman to familarise himself/ herself with the entire electoral process and the running of the organisation (GECOM) which we know is very huge and complex. Further, once the appointment is made, it will allow for the political situation in the country to settle itself; if not, it could exacerbate.
If there is continued delay on the part of the President in making the appointment from the list provided by the Leader of the Opposition, it would give rise to suspicion that the President is bent on frustrating and complicating the process so that he can proceed in naming someone of his own choice. Certainly this would lead to a barrage of criticisms against the Coalition Government as it would clearly not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Constitution.
While the Constitution allows the President the option of appointing someone of his choice, this could only be on the basis that the Opposition Leader has faild to submit a list. The Opposition Leader has indeed submitted three lists to date and it is clear that every effort was made on his part to fulfill meet his mandate as defined in the Constitution.
Many are anxiously waiting to see how the President would threat with the matter now that a third list has been submitted. It would be in the Government’s own interest to prove to the nation that it is indeed serious about ensuring good governance and more particularly, abiding by the Constitution.