A second list of six names for consideration as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is to be submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to President David Granger after the two of them clarify outstanding issues.
This is one of the developments from yesterday’s meeting between the two leaders which also addressed proposed appointments of judges to the Court of Appeal and the two top appointments in the judiciary.
Granger yesterday met with Jagdeo at State House at the latter’s request for clarifications on the qualities of nominees for the post of Chairman of GECOM as well as the list of judicial nominees.
In a press release issued last evening, the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP) said that Granger will within a week’s time outline by way of a letter the qualities he was looking for. A separate statement from the Leader of the Opposition said that Jagdeo will await these clarifications before he submits a new list with the required six names.
This meeting, the MOTP release said was a follow-up to one that was held between the two sides on March 1. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, Attorney General, Basil Williams and PPP Member of Parliament, Anil Nandlall were also present at the meeting.
In a brief comment after the meeting, Harmon disclosed to MOTP that Jagdeo requested clarification with respect to the qualities of the persons to be included on the list. He disclosed that the Attorney General gave a clear explanation as to what, according to the Constitution, was “fit and proper”.
“His Excellency did elaborate a little more on that and he identifiedthe three ‘Is’ which is to say that the person must be a person of integrity, the person must be a person who is independent and the person must be someone who is impartial,” the Minister was quoted as saying.
Additionally, Granger, the release said undertook to prepare a letter outlining the qualities he expects in a nominee. “This letter will sent to the Opposition Leader within a week to further guide his selection process following which he will be expected to submit his new list”, the release said adding that Harmon also said that while a date for the next engagement with the Opposition Leader has not been fixed, there is not going to be much delay in concluding this particular issue.
Granger indicated several weeks ago that the list of nominees submitted by Jagdeo, in keeping with his constitutional duty, was unacceptable. Granger’s emphasis has been on a candidate who is/was a judge or eligible to be a judge as opposed to a `fit and proper’ as also catered for in the constitution. Since then the two sides have been haggling over the criteria for the nominees for the post.
Article 161 (2) of the constitution states, “Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person who holds or who has held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court or who is qualified to be appointed as any such judge, or any other fit and proper person, to be appointed by the President from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition after meaningful consultation with the non-governmental political parties represented in the National Assembly.”
Jagdeo’s list did not include a judge but rather candidates that he felt could qualify under the “fit and proper” proviso. The list comprised chartered accountant and lawyer Christopher Ram; business executive Ramesh Dookhoo; author and rights activist Ryhaan Shah; historian Professor James Rose; governance and peace practitioner Lawrence Lachmansingh and former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force and mining company executive Norman McLean.
The meeting with the president yesterday followed two earlier meetings between Nandlall and Williams which did not settle the matter. The opposition has publicly said that those engagements offered no clarity on the issue. It was at this point that Jagdeo requested Granger’s intervention.
The opposition in its statement yesterday said that, Granger “admitted that a collaborative exercise between himself and the Leader of the Opposition would assist in arriving at a consensual candidate, which was the intention of the framers of Article 161 (2) of the Constitution and in this regard, promised to furnish the Leader of the Opposition with the clarifications which the Leader of the Opposition has requested, within ten (10) days’.
According to the opposition release, upon receipt of these clarifications, Jagdeo shall submit to the president, six more names for the appointment of a GECOM Chairman in accordance with Article 161 (2) of the Constitution, “as soon as is reasonably possible”.
Last week, President Granger invited the Opposition Leader to discuss the appointment of Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards as Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire as Acting Chief Justice, the release said adding that these two appointments have since been agreed to by the Opposition.
JSC nominees
The two sides also discussed the four names submitted by the Judicial Service Commission to fill positions in the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
The JSC since May last year had recommended that two High Court judges be elevated to the Court of Appeal and identified candidates to replace them in the High Court. This newspaper was informed that the two judges recommended for the Court of Appeal were very experienced and have performed satisfactorily during their time on the bench.
The MOTP statement said this matter of the judicial nominees was raised by Jagdeo with the President last week.
“His Excellency indicated to the Leader of the Opposition that he sent a letter to the Acting Chancellor and the Chairman of the JSC asking them to provide some additional information and based upon that he is going to exercise his judgement,” Harmon was quoted as saying.
When asked about this matter in January this year, Granger confirmed that he was in possession of a list of judicial nominees to fill four positions and said that an announcement would be made when the time is right. “I am considering the list which I have before me and in due course the announcement will be made,” Granger said. Asked how long before the announcement would be made, he responded, “Well as long as it takes.”
According to the opposition statement, the president informed the Leader of the Opposition that he has requested from the newly appointed Chancellor (Ag) who is the new Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), certain information related to performance, in respect of the two Puisne Judges who were recommended by the JSC for promotion to the Guyana Court of Appeal and that he has requested certain particulars in relation to the two lawyers who were recommended by the JSC to be appointed as Puisne Judges.
“The Leader of the Opposition adverted to the constitutional mandate of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to conduct the requisite inquiries and to determine the suitability of candidates who eventually would become the subject of recommendations to the President for appointment; pointing out that once those recommendations are made, the President’s power is very limited under the Constitution, obliging him to make the appointments in spite of reservations which he may have regarding the candidates who have been recommended”, the release said.
Jagdeo also pointed out that any request for a performance related report ought not to be confined to the two judges who have been recommended for elevation, but must apply to all judges so that there can be a basis for comparison.
“Also, since this initiative would be a comparatively new one, it should be applied in the future and not to the two (2) Judges who have already been recommended for promotion”, the release said.
Nandlall had severely criticized the delay in making the judicial appointments and had signaled his intention to file a constitutional motion if the nominees were not appointed within reasonable time. He had advanced this position more than two months ago. Recently he expressed concern that the work of the Appeal Court would be halted following the retirement of the Chancellor and another judge heading off on pre-retirement leave; the two being the only permanent judges of the court. The court is made up of three judges. He had posited that has the JSC nominees been appointed this situation could have been averted.
It was the opposition PPP/C that first highlighted the president’s failure to act on the list of nominees.
