Granger probably not “fit and proper” to select GECOM Chairman – Jagdeo

By Devina Samaroo

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday said if his third list of nominees is rejected, then President David Granger is probably not “fit and proper” to make a decision on the appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The President has had three lists so far, with 18 names to select a chairman for the country’s elections body. The last list was submitted over a month ago, but the President is yet to decide.

According to Jagdeo, “maybe he [Granger] is not fit and proper to make the selection.”

Granger on Wednesday said he wants to meet with Jagdeo sometime next week to discuss the matter.
The Opposition Leader said he hopes the President’s request for a meeting means he has made a decision.

“In the past, he has just written me to say ‘I did not find anyone acceptable. So I am hoping the departure from how I get the news, means that its positive news,” he stated.

The last set of nominees includes Major General Joseph Singh, TeniHousty, Sanjeev Datadin, Annette Arjoon-Martins, Onesi La Fleur, and Krishnadatt Persaud. Meanwhile, Jagdeo also took a swing at the President for not addressing the fact that the Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George Wiltshire ruled against his initial interpretations of the Constitution.

The Opposition Leader asserted that the President keeps saying that the ruling does not interfere with his authority to select a “fit and proper” without addressing his “false” interpretations from the inception.

“Whoever claimed in this country that the ruling interfered with his authority to appoint a fit and proper person? Nobody said anything about the ruling interfering with his authority to appoint a fit and proper person. What we said was that the ruling dealt with some positions the president had taken publicly,” Jagdeo stated and accused the President of implementing diversionary tactics to hide from the truth.

GECOM has been without a Chairman since November 2016 following the resignation of Dr Steve Surujbally.