With a Monday deadline looming for a consensus before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) hands down orders that could see the holding of polls within a few months, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said he has been invited by the government to a meeting next week.
However, it appears that this will be held after the orders are issued on Monday.
Jagdeo last evening told Stabroek News that the letter from government was received yesterday and that it asked for a meeting “next week” but he did not disclose anything else about its contents.
He also confirmed that his legal team had finished compiling its proposals on the way forward.
Efforts to solicit comments yesterday from the government on these developments proved futile as calls to both Attorney General Basil Williams and Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon went unanswered.
The passage of a motion of no-confidence against government, the validity of which was upheld by the CCJ on Tuesday, required the resignation of Cabinet and the holding of new polls within a three-month period unless an extension was agreed on by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. However, that time expired during the legal battle over the validity of the motion and Jagdeo has so far shut the door on any extension of the timeframe.
Jagdeo on Thursday said that James Patterson’s continued occupation of the post of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman was “untenable,” while saying that he could have a new list of nominees ready within hours for President David Granger’s consideration. Patterson has declined to comment on the CCJ ruling that his appointment was flawed and in breach of the constitution.
Government seems to be awaiting Monday’s court orders before commenting on the way forward.
Jagdeo is hopeful that the CCJ’s orders speak directly to Patterson’s replacement, since he believes that the “President can use this as an excuse to delay the appointment of a Chairman.”
The Opposition Leader also said he believes that GECOM can be ready within three months for elections since it would have legally had to do so upon the passage of the motion.
President Granger is adamant that there should be house-to-house registration before new elections as he has said the “current list is corrupted and cannot form the basis for credible polls.”
Government-nominated elections commissioners have also been pushing for a new national house-to-house registration exercise to create a new list. Critics have said this is not necessary as the same database produced the list for the November 2018 local government elections and that there had been several continuous registration exercises which would have enlisted youths and others who had not been registered.
