Following a meeting with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, President David Granger has selected retired judge Claudette Singh as the new Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
In a brief statement, the Ministry of the Presidency said Granger met Jagdeo today at the ministry, where they continued a series of meetings aimed at ‘hammering out’ a list of nominees “not unacceptable” to the president.
The statement added that the president received and reviewed the list of nominees later this afternoon in an effort to bring the selection process to a speedy and favourable conclusion. “This was aimed at ensuring that the Elections Commission could resume its normal functions with the aim of conducting General and Regional Elections in the shortest possible time,” it added.
According to the statement, the president “swiftly made a selection from the list of nominees” and approved Justice Singh, who satisfies the criteria for the appointment and also satisfies the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for a consensual appointment supported by both the President and the Leader of the Opposition.
Singh was the only woman on the list submitted by Jagdeo. The other nominees were retired judges BS Roy and William Ramlal, attorneys Kashir Khan and Ronald Burch-Smith, and Human Rights and Conflict Resolution ConsultantLawrence Latchmansingh.
At a news conference this afternoon, Jagdeo announced that following a meeting with the president, he engaged Claudette Singh to ascertain whether she would be willing to be included among the nominees for the post, since she had previously declined.
He said after he secured her agreement, he then communicated same to the president, who then triggered the formal process by inviting him to submit the list of six nominees. He did so and the president made the selection, he added.
Singh, who was called to the Bar in London in 1973 and admitted to the Bar in Guyana in 1976, was one of three women appointed Senior Counsel in 2017 for her service as the Deputy Solicitor General and as a Puisne Judge and a Justice of Appeal and her leadership in spearheading the Modernisation of the Justice Reform Project, and as the Guyana Police Force’s Legal Advisor.
