Jagdeo submits third list of GECOM nominees

Last Updated on Friday, 25 August 2017, 16:36 by Denis Chabrol

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday submitted a third list of six nominees for the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to President David Granger, saying he is hopeful that the Guyanese leader will select one of them in light of the recent High Court decision.

“It is my expectation that the President will select a Chairman from this list especially now that we have the ruling of the Chief Justice on this matter,” Jagdeo said in announcing the names.

Today, I submitted to President David Granger, the names of six (6) persons for the appointment of a Chairman of GECOM, pursuant to the provisions of Article 161(2) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The six (6) names are as follows:

1.            Major General Joseph Singh;

2.            Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Teni Housty;

3.            Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Sanjeev Datadin;

4.            Mrs. Annette Arjune-Martins;

5.            Pastor Onesi La Fleur;

6.            Former Magistrate Mr. Krishnadatt Persaud;

It will be observed that in respect of the names which I submitted to the President,

One is a former chairman of GECOM; two are attorneys-at-law with over 10 years of good standing at the Guyana Bar and both of whom are qualified to be appointed as judges of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in Guyana in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana; one who is an attorney-at-law with over 40 years of good standing and a former magistrate who served in that capacity for over 20 years; one who is a business person in the local airline industry and who has received national and international acclaim for her work in protecting Guyana’s biodiversity; and one who has distinguished himself as an agriculturalist and has made a sterling contribution in Guyana and the Caribbean in the area of Education and Religion.

Having regard to the antecedents in relation to this matter and a subsequent meeting with the President at State House on June 12th, 2017 where we agreed to establish a High-level Exploratory Committee which was never activated by the government, I continued an elaborate and protracted consultations which lasted several weeks with various stakeholders. During this process I solicited their views, and sought nominations, in my efforts to ensure that I present six (6) names to the President who satisfy the requirements contemplated by Article 161(2) of the Constitution. Arriving at these six (6) names was not an easy task.

It is my expectation that the President will select a Chairman from this list especially now that we have the ruling of the Chief Justice on this matter.