The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is now close to appointing a new Chief Election Officer (CEO) after deciding yesterday that only two candidates: Jamaican Leslie Harrow and Guyanese Vishnu Persaud will be interviewed for the post.
The post became vacant on August 12, 2021, after the contract of former CEO Keith Lowenfield was terminated. He faces a series of charges of alleged electoral misconduct before a City Magistrate.
GECOM met yesterday, a continuation of Tues-day’s statutory meeting that was abruptly ended due to a power outage, where the battle raged on as to the names of those who should make the final cut. In the end, it was the Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh who suggested that the Commission interview Harrow, who is the Director-General of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Pre-paredness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and Regional Manager at the Electoral Commission of Jamaica, and Persaud who once served as GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) and former Deputy CEO.
“The Chairman did not express a view as that the requirements were met (in the case of Vishnu Persaud) but she said that she would like to hear him at an interview. She did not come down to say that I agree or disagree because we were arguing the case of the basic requirements,” Opposition-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander told Stabroek News.
In the case of Harrow, Alexander said “…it is also our contention that Harrow meets the basic requirements given his 15 years of experience of managing an electoral area in Jamaica that covers more than 1 million persons, 18 offices and 42 staff members. She (Justice Singh) did not comment on that but she also said that she would wish to hear him in the interview.”
Persaud and Harrow were among 20 persons who responded to the Commission’s advertisement for Lowenfield’s replacement but that number was brought down to six. Of the six, it was further reduced yesterday to just the two when compared against the eligibility criteria as outlined by the Commission.
The CEO is expected to play the key leadership role in GECOM’s Secre-tariat and is tasked with the responsibility for implementing all aspects of its operations, and ensuring that results achieved are consistent with the laws of Guyana and the policies determined by the Commission. The criteria, perhaps the most important shortlisting aspect, stipulate that the CEO is required to be the holder of a Master’s Degree and has 10 years of experience in electoral matters.
The criteria have been the subject of contention with the Opposition side saying that they are tailored to cater for persons just within the Commission while pointing to the fact that several of the former CEOs were hired from within.
Alexander and his fellow commissioners – Desmond Trotman and Charles Corbin – have been contending that Persaud should not be shortlisted for the post since he does not meet the required electoral management experience since the PRO is in no way associated with the management of elections or systems. However, Shadick and her fellow commissioners Sase Gunraj and Manoj Narayan have been arguing that though his official designation was PRO, Persaud served as Civic and Voter Education Manager, Training Officer, CEO and DCEO for brief periods, hence he is suitably qualified.
Persaud was initially hired as the Personal Assistant to then GECOM Chair Dr Steve Surujbally in November 2001 and prior to that, he worked in the same capacity at the Ministry of Agriculture. It was under Dr Surujbally leadership that Persaud was elevated to the various positions.
“The decision (to shortlist Persaud) was not unanimous. Some persons felt that Vishnu Persaud did not meet the requirement while others felt that he met the requirement. We on the Opposition side did feel like he did not meet the requirement,” Alexander told Stabroek News.
Interviews on Monday
Meanwhile, Shadick told this newspaper that interviews will be conducted on Monday, December 6 at around 1 pm. Additionally, she said that the Commission was in process of notifying Persaud and Harrow that they have been shortlisted and are expected to interview for the post.
When asked about how the final shortlist was arrived at, Shadick said “It was a majority. When the commission makes a decision, our operating procedure and the laws also say how the decision was arrived at should not be enquired into even by a court of law so I would prefer not to say how we arrived at the decision but yes the decision was a majority.”
In addition to the CEO, GECOM is looking to fill the vacancies of Deputy CEO, Assistant CEO, Chief Accountant, Legal Officer, Logistics Manager, Civic and Voter Education Manager. The same process, of Commissioners deciding on the final shortlists, is expected to be followed.
“In the meantime, we will meet again tomorrow when we will have the benefit of the CV for all the others on the list and we are going to be finalizing interview lists for DCEO, ACEO, and possibly Legal Officer,” Shadick said.
Traditionally, the process employed for hiring the CEO and DCEO involves the GECOM Commissioners interviewing the shortlisted candidates and scoring them using a standard scoring sheet. They then bring the scores to the full Commission and make recommendations following which a vote is taken and the successful applicant is appointed to the post.
However, with the scrutiny and increased accusations of GECOM being partisan, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Trotman had tabled a proposal to have an independent panel appointed to conduct the interviews and then submit a report to the Commission. However, that was rejected by the Commission along with the option of a mixed panel as well.
Speaking to the methodology of conducting the interviews, Gunraj told the Stabroek News that it would be decided when the Commission meets later today.
Stabroek News understands that the interviewing would be done virtually in light of the pandemic and each Commissioner would be judging the applicants based on a set of criteria outlined in their score sheet. Based on the previous score sheets candidates will be judged on their qualifications, understanding of Guyana’s electoral laws and systems, knowledge of conducting elections, and overall understanding of the electoral landscape in Guyana among other criteria.
With the Opposition-nominated Commissioners favouring Harrow and the government side for Persaud, it looks like Justice Singh may have the deciding vote as to who becomes the next CEO.
Persaud has been in a situation where his appointment was deadlocked and the Chairman had to cast the deciding vote. Back in 2018, he missed out on the DCEO post after then Chairman retired Justice James Patterson favoured former DCEO Roxanne Myers over Persaud even though he scored higher than Myers in the interviewing process.
Harrow spent over 18 years with the Electoral Commission of Jamaica. He started as an Office Manager in 1997 and served there until January 2001. In 2002, he returned to the ECJ as the Regional Manager and served up until May 2017.
As Regional Manager at the ECJ, Harrow was responsible for the management of 9 constituencies for General Elections in 2002, 2007, 2011 and Local Government Elections in 2003 and 2012.
