The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday rejected President David Granger’s insistence on his selected candidates being included on Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s final list of nominees for the post Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, calling it a misinterpretation of the judgment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The party further accused Granger of “flip flopping” on the court’s rulings, while saying that it calls into question his sincerity in the discharge of his constitutional role in the process.
These pronouncements were made in a statement yesterday in wake of Granger’s comments during a televised interview with Deputy Director of the Press and Publicity Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency, Ariana Gordon, in which he declared that he will resist any attempt to deny him input in the list of six “not unacceptable” candidates for consideration for the post.
Granger also said Jagdeo’s outright rejection of his two most recent suggestions, retired judge Claudette La Bennett and GPHC Chairperson Kesaundra Alves, is “a recipe for gridlock.”
The two leaders have been forced to re-engage to fill the post after President Granger’s unilateral appointment of retired judge James Patterson was invalidated by the CCJ. Under Article 161(2) of the Constitution, the President is to make the appointment from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to him, submitted by the Opposition Leader after meaningful consultation with the non-governmental political parties represented in the National Assembly.
The CCJ has said that Granger and Jagdeo should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman, in light of their finding that that a no-confidence motion was validly passed against the government, thereby triggering the need for fresh general elections.
Since their new engagement, four candidates have been deemed “not unacceptable” to the president and he is yet to make a decision on four more names which Jagdeo submitted last week. A list of six is expected to be formally submitted by Jagdeo to Granger once the “not unacceptable” candidates have been identified.
However, in light of the president’s statements, the PPP yesterday accused him of insisting of handpicking the person to be appointed. It further pointed out that on at least two previous occasions, the President publicly conceded that the CCJ could not and did not amend Article 161(2), which reposes the exclusive responsibility in the Leader of Opposition for submitting names to the President. It quoted his comments at a press conference last Tuesday, where he said that the authority of the opposition leader to submit a list of six names not unacceptable to the President has not been impaired nor varied and neither has the president’s prerogative to make a selection.
It suggested that in his most recent comments, however, the President “misinterpreted the CCJ judgment in casting an enlarged role for himself in insisting that the names he suggests must find themselves on the final list to be submitted to him by the Leader of the Opposition.” It further added that he did so while at the same time completely ignoring the gravamen of the court’s decisions in the no-confidence motion cases, which require the resignation of Cabinet, among other things. “This kind of flip flopping forces us to unfortunately question his sincerity, good faith, honour and integrity in the discharge of his constitutional role and function,” the party said.
Referring to the President’s warning of potential “gridlock” even as the engagement is still ongoing, the PPP reiterated that it has submitted four additional names and is awaiting an indication of whether the President finds them not unacceptable. “Does it now mean that the informal engagement has been aborted?” the party questioned. “If so, the President is obliged to invite the Leader of the Opposition to formally submit 6 names for the appointment of a Chairman of GECOM in light of the CCJ’s judgment quashing the appointment of Justice (rtd) James Patterson,” it added, while noting that Jagdeo remains committed to engage until there is agreement on a final list of six names to be submitted to the President.
