Since Guyana started to use the present formula for the appointment of GECOM Chairman, there was an accepted political reality. The Leader of the Opposition nominated at least one person he knew the President would be comfortable with. Not just qualified, but acceptable. This means a person the President himself would have nominated.
In 1992 Dr. Jagan nominated Rudy Collins, who might not have been President Hoyte’s first choice, but was acceptable to him. Then in 1994 Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte nominated Edward Hopkinson who was so neutral that people hardly remember he served as Chairman.
In 1997 Desmond Hoyte nominated Doodnaught Singh. Including his name on the list did not sit well with a number of persons in the PNC leadership, since Doodnauth Singh was known to harbor anti-PNC sentiments. However, Mr Hoyte expressed confidence in his professional integrity and insisted he had to include at least one person the President could be comfortable with. The rest is history. Doodnauth Singh collaborated with the PPP to the extent that he conspired with Janet Jagan to have a secret swearing-in ceremony. This was in an effort to thwart an order of the courts. The PPP was so blatant and non-repentant about Doodnauth Singh’s affiliation, they made him a Minister.
In 2001, Desmond Hoyte nominated Joe Singh, another person acceptable to the PPP. He was so acceptable that he later served as a presidential advisor to President Ramotar and is now one of the persons nominated by Bharrat Jagdeo. This underscores the political reality Mr. Hoyte accepted and was being guided by when he made his nominations.
It was in keeping with this reality that Desmond Hoyte nominated Steve Surujbally. On this occasion, there was even greater push back within the PNCR Central Committee, because there was a view among the PNCR leadership that Steve Surujbally penned pro PPP letters to the media under a pseudonym. Mr. Hoyte was confronted at one meeting and he insisted that it is he who is the Leader of the Opposition, and it is for him to make the nomination. Even when derisively told, “it was we who made you the Leader is the Opposition,” he did not budge. He saw the political reality that the younger members of his executive did not see. He must nominate someone the President is comfortable with.
After the Doodnauth Singh treachery, this was a risk. Things indeed looked ominous when Surujbally accepted a job from the PPP to be Chairman of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority. He also voted with the PPP against House to House verification before the 2006 elections. In 2011 Jagdeo rescinded Surujbally appointment as Chairman of the Livestock Authority. Ironically, and probably coincidentally, this was after the 2008 House to House Registration that the PPP was unhappy with.
When it was Jagdeo’s turn to make a nomination the trend was abandoned, and the political reality became obscure. For some reason, Jagdeo believed the chairman must be someone he is comfortable with, even if the President is not. This attitude was reinforced when Jagdeo resubmitted the names previously rejected by President Granger.
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Chris Ram, and to a lesser extent Joe Singh, demonstrated rejection syndrome after President Granger declined to appoint them. Ram went on and is still on, an anti-government rampage. Joe Singh reacted by resigning from all government positions. This is what we were able to see publicly. However, we must ask all ourselves, who else on that list is suffering from rejection syndrome, and are therefore likely, even if subconsciously, to be bias against the government’s position. After all, their appointment would not be as a result of mutual agreement by the President and Leader, but instead as a result of the Leader of the Opposition beating the President over the head to make the appointment. Jagdeo knows this, but yet he did not make a new submission after the CCJ ruling.
Jagdeo is claiming that President Granger had broken trend. No! It was Jagdeo who broke the trend by refusing to submit at least one name the President would be comfortable with, but this is not surprising. The PPP wants a Chairman who would do it’s bidding, and the first order of business would be to vote in favor of the use of the corrupt voters list. Surely this now has to be a critical factor in the appointment of the Chairman.
the president must do all within his power to prevent this from happening or it will be a catastrophic for the future of this country mr. Granger is a wise man and should us wisdom carefully to dievort this country out of the traps of the PPP