Even though the government has publicly declared its non-support for its Local Government Elections (LGE) candidate Winston Harding after it was reported in the media that he had been charged with child molestation, it was yesterday revealed that there is no legal barrier to him taking up a seat on the City Council.
“There is no legal basis for disqualification of the candidate. It is a moral question, it is a political question but it certainly is not a legal question,” Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Commissioner Vincent Alexander said during a press conference yesterday.
President David Granger hours earlier had said that Harding’s possible recall will have to be discussed at the party level and that he will be seeking an explanation from Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence as to how he ended up as a candidate for the coalition. Despite the revelations there had been defensive statements from Lawrence which led to calls for her immediate resignation.
It was following a publication in Stabroek News that the coalition government, two days before the elections, withdrew its support for Harding, who has since won Constituency 13 (East and West Ruimveldt).
Alexander, when questioned on the issue of a recall, said, “Our legislation for local government does not provide for a recall of that sort.”
Asked if members of a constituency could petition for a candidate’s removal, given that the first past the post system has been touted as a means to keep councillors responsive to the needs of their constituency, Alexander said there was no provision for individual recall.
“This is not a Gecom question,” he said, adding, “Gecom operates according to existing legislation.”
He explained that as far as he is aware there is a mechanism for overall recall of the council but none for an individual councillor.
“It is a matter for which I have advocated. Personally I would agree that there is need for a recall mechanism but it didn’t find itself into the law,” he told reporters.
Stabroek News had reported that under Section 101A of Chapter 20:03 of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act the representative of the list on which a candidate appears may officially petition Gecom for the candidate’s removal. However, Alexander has since informed that this reference version of the Act is the old one and that the amended Act provides no recall mechanism.
PPP/C Commissioner Bibi Shadick stated that no law is foolproof. “When loop holes are recognized our worthy legislature should be able to amend those laws,” she said.
It was brought to Stabroek News’ attention that campaign posters bearing Harding’s image had been rebranded with a tag, reading “Child Molester.”
Stabroek News had confirmed that Harding had been charged more than once with indecent assault and another accusation had been made against him in 2012.
Lawrence, when contacted by Stabroek News, had said that the allegations were a “family issue.” She had maintained that the accusations begun and ended with Harding’s sister. “This is a family issue that has been going on and on and on and on for whatever reason, I can’t tell you, because if I had a brother, even if there was an accusation, this is not how I would go about helping him,” she told this newspaper.
“Do you think that me, the minister in charge of that [social protection], would have someone like that running? Do you think that the party would expose itself like that? We are aware of the situation but he was never charged,” the minister had declared.
Oscar Clarke, the General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform, which is APNU’s largest constituent, when contacted by Stabroek News, had said that it was not an issue the party could do anything about at that time as the period for objections had passed. He said there was also the issue of the candidate denying the accusation and never having been convicted. Though APNU had withdrawn its support of him, Harding’s name remained on Friday’s ballot, contesting under the first-past-the-post component.
Asked if APNU will take a decision to recall Harding once he gets to City Council, Granger told reporters that this will have to be discussed. “The matter will be discussed within the PNCR and our partners with the APNU before we proceed on it,” he said.
He added that an announcement had already been made and “government stands by the announcement which has been made and at this point in time I cannot go beyond that announcement until it has been discussed within the PNC councils and within the APNU.”
On Friday, members of Red Thread during a picket exercise outside of Lawrence’s Lamaha Street office called on Granger to relieve her of her portfolio.
Asked to respond to this, Granger told reporters that he had heard of the call but no such call went directly to him. Notwithstanding that, he said he would seek an explanation from Lawrence about the circumstances under which Harding was selected.
Members of Childlink and the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) were also present during the picketing exercise, which its organisers say will continue.
