Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) James Patterson is now expected to return to work on January 22 following his application on Tuesday for an additional 14 days of sick leave.
Meanwhile, Parliamen-tary whips Amna Ally and Gail Teixeira have been identified to enquire into the readiness of GECOM to hold elections in 90 days.
Ally and Teixeira were identified following a meeting on Wednesday between President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
It is not clear how and when they are to engage the commission in the absence of the Chairman. Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward said that as far as she is aware the commission has received no communication about an engagement.
“We know of this proposed enquiry through media reports therefore at this time I cannot comment on the issue,” she told Stabroek News.
Additionally Ward indicated that though the constitution provides for the appointment of a temporary chair it is not clear as to how the process for such an appointment can be activated therefore she could not speak to its possibilities.
Article 161 (7) of the constitution provides for the appointment of a temporary chairman if the chairman is unable to perform his functions.
“If by reason of Illness, absence from Guyana or suspension… the chairman is unable to perform his functions a temporary chairman may be appointed in his place,” the article notes while Article 161 (8) further explains that anyone appointed in this manner shall hold the post “only for the period ending when the person in whose place he has been appointed resumes his functions or ceases to be the chairman.” The same provision states that the temporary chair shall be appointed in the same manner as the substantive holder of the post.
Patterson’s appointment was a contentious and controversial process which took approximately a year and is still engaging the courts following Granger decision to unilaterally appoint the 85-year-old former judge.
Jagdeo has already noted that the legal concerns make any consideration of a temporary chairman complicated.
He has also noted that the opposition has always been concerned that Patterson’s health would negatively impact the functioning of the commission.
“This was our concern since he was appointed. That has to be our concern because the commission is critical to the machinery and if the commission is not meeting who runs GECOM? You need the oversight,” he had told reporters.
Patterson has not been at work since November 30 and was reportedly hospitalized twice in December but was expected to return to work on January 7 and chair a statutory meeting on the January 8.
However on Tuesday the commission announced that Patterson’s leave has been extended following a visit to his doctor.
“While the Chairman has been recovering well, he was advised by his doctor to have some additional rest to ensure that he fully recovers to effectively resume duty” GECOM said.
While Stabroek News has been unable to reach the PNCR commissioners the opposition-nominated commissioners subsequently issued a statement in which they voiced concern that it could be a ploy to delay the holding of general and regional elections.
“We cannot be unmindful of a possible situation existing where the said extension of illness is a ploy designed to delay the holding of General and Regional Elections within the constitutionally determined 90-day timeframe consequent on the previously referenced Resolution of the National Assembly,” commissioners Robeson Benn, Sase Gunraj and Bibi Shadick said in a press release, where they also wished Patterson a speedy and full recovery.
They maintained that in Patterson’s absence the holding of meetings of the sub-committees of GECOM should resume to discuss, determine and guide GECOM’s actions and schedules necessary for the holding of elections in the constitutionally mandated 90-day timeframe.
In an interview prior to the issuance of the release, Shadick told Stabroek News that the cancellation of the statutory meeting will affect vital decisions to be made in relation to the upcoming national and elections as well as discussions on reports coming out of the last local government elections.
She has repeatedly stressed that GECOM could successfully hold elections because the voters’ list, one of the most important features of the elections remains valid until April 30th, 2019.
In an earlier interview, she had told this newspaper that the machinery and staff that GECOM used in the 2018 local government elections could work again.
However, government-appointed commissioner Desmond Trotman in a letter in the December 30 edition of Stabroek News in response to Shadick’s statement said that as far as he was aware there has been no allocation of funds to hold elections in Guyana in 2019.
“I am therefore concerned how and where the funds will come from and am therefore looking forward to a resolution to this issue. Presumably, this will be one of the issues which will engage President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo when they meet to discuss the way forward” Trotman noted.
