The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce today called on President David Granger to rescind the unilateral appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM and it also blistered the Alliance For Change (AFC) for its stance on the matter.

In a statement, the Chamber condemned what it said was the “blatant disregard” by the President of the constitution.

“We (were) convinced that this is what the president and his advisers wanted to do all along, ever since the first list (of nominees) was submitted and he rejected names like Christopher Ram and Lawrence Lachmansingh. How else can one explain why a practice for twenty-five years was thrown through the windows and the President even rejected a man (Major General Ret’d Joe Singh) who was proposed by the then PNC when in opposition” and who had successfully run the 2001 general elections.

 

The Chamber statement was the latest in a torrent of criticism of Granger for his disregarding of three lists from Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo totalling 18 names and naming his own candidate.

“The action of President Granger will do immense damage to our fledgling democracy. In getting in power through a coalition Mr. Granger should have known better. His senseless action will severely dent if not kill any future crossover voting by the two major races of Guyana and throw us back to the 70’s and 80’s. Instead of trying to build a country, people will once again be consumed by ‘rigged elections’ as the suspicions and fears of the ‘rigging machines’ of the old PNC comes to life”, the Chamber said.