President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday both sounded notes of optimism about reaching agreement on a new Guy-ana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson after they held their first meeting since the Carib-bean Court of Justice (CCJ) declared the previous appointment of retired judge James Patterson to be flawed.
Both Granger and Jagdeo described the meeting, which was held at the Ministry of the Presidency, as productive as they committed to “hammering out” modalities for nomination of a new GECOM Chair “within days,” thereby allowing them to return to the bargaining table before July 12th, when the CCJ is due to deliver consequential orders based on its finding that Patterson’s appointment was unconstitutional and also that a no confidence motion passed against the government last December was valid. However, neither party would commit to assuring that the appointment would be made before the CCJ’s decision.
Granger said that he could not state when they would arrive at a conclusion but stressed that it is not “an open-ended process.”
