After Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman Justice (retd) James Patterson cast a crucial vote yesterday for the selection of a Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO), the three PPP/C-nominated commissioners once again walked out of a statutory meeting and alleged ethnic bias in the process.
PPP/C commissioners Robeson Benn, Sase Gunraj and Bibi Shadick told an emergency press conference at the office of the Opposition Leader yesterday that Patterson cast a vote in favour of hiring Roxanne Myers, after they were deadlocked with the APNU-nominated commissioners on rehiring former DCEO Vishnu Persaud, who had been the highest ranked candidate.
As a result, they said they walked out of the statutory meeting in protest. They added that they would be lodging a complaint with the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and would also raise the situation with the international community.