Dear Editor,
The President of Guyana cannot be President and Leader of the Opposition simultaneously.
The call by Government for the president to nominate persons for the post of GECOM chairman is an attempt to make the President and Leader of the Opposition one. That is, it is meant to eliminate the non-delegable role of the Leader of the Opposition.
The constitution does not allow for this. Where the constitution says that a Leader of the Opposition gets to nominate and a President gets to appoint a GECOM chairman, then that is the law of the land. It is meant to prevent electoral theft, not promote electoral profit.
This law is and must be non-negotiable. Neither the President nor the Leader of the Opposition is allowed lawfully to change it in the name of consensus. Any attempt to do so is to break this law. The public must guard against and resist this, as no one can uphold the constitution by breaking a law.
Therefore, the idea being peddled by some that today’s fallen President and the Leader of the Opposition should each be allowed to name three nominees or nominees on the list to be submitted, is a mischievous suggestion to break the law.
It is a suggestion to break the law because it is meant to usurp or strangle the role of the Leader of the Opposition by giving the president unilateral decision-making powers, under the circumstance. The president cannot nominate a nominee unto himself.
Further, this fallen Government’s predictable misreading of what the Caribbean Court of Justice said underscores Government’s need to have a chairman who manages the elections from inside of the president’s front pocket.
Said another way, the president is attempting to go around what the Court said about his “flawed” unilateral appointment.
Yours faithfully,
Rakesh Rampertab