The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) yesterday accused President David Granger of abandoning the constitutionally-agreed process for the selection of the new Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Chairman, while also questioning the suitability of retired judge James Patterson for the post.
In a strongly-worded statement issued yesterday, the GHRA said the president’s actions were “profoundly depressing yet predictable,” while noting that the political leadership of both the government and the opposition have been monopolizing the management of the electoral system for decades.
“The [GHRA] is appalled by the willingness of both parties – notwithstanding their moralizing – to subject the country to a prolonged, ethnically-fueled electoral campaign, sharpened by the winner-take-all oil and gas bonanza,” it said, while arguing that the president’s actions has plunged Guyana once again into an election-driven crisis.
