Appointment of GECOM Chair; Much is premised on Granger-Jagdeo meeting

Much is premised on the proposed engagement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition as it relates to the appointment of a new Chairperson for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

According to Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall who played a role in assembling both lists of persons which were refused by President David Granger as “unacceptable”, finding another six names in compliance with the President’s requirements “would now become near impossible.”

He has noted that the pool to draw from has become “significantly narrower.”

He also accused the President of misinterpreting Article 161 (2) of the Constitution.

Nandlall said “in the circumstances, the nation has no alternative but to hope that the proposed engagement between the President and the Leader of the Opposition would result in the President’s resiling from his misinterpretation of Article 161 (2). If not, the consequences to this nation may be dire for which the President will have to accept responsibility.”

On Friday, (June 02, 2017), President David Granger refused the second list of nominees received from the Opposition Leader to Chair GECOM.

Granger later stated that “every member of the list suggested must conform to the criteria and you cannot put on the list, a person who does not conform… I must be given a choice. I don’t believe that the second list gave me the range of choice that the people of Guyana deserve.”

The President added that he is prepared to work with the Opposition Leader “for as long as it takes” Opposition to have somebody selected who fits the criteria, satisfies the Constitution and is one that the people of Guyana could be happy with.

The Leader of the Opposition must now submit a third list to the Head of State.

Nandlall accused that the President “has managed to make, what was, historically, a very smooth and straightforward exercise, one that is now complicated and politically acrimonious.”