President David Granger, this morning, met former Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson, who has since demitted office, a Ministry of the Presidency statement said this afternoon.
The President thanked Justice Patterson for his service over the past 20 months. The statement said that the former GECOM Chair resigned on Monday June 24, 2019 thereby rendering that post vacant.
The decision by the former GECOM Chair to demit office is in keeping with the June 18 ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that his appointment was “flawed” and thereby unconstitutional.
When he had been contacted by Stabroek News following the June 18 ruling Justice Patterson said that he hadn’t yet given the matter thought as yet.
“The Government of Guyana reiterates its acceptance of the CCJ ruling in the case of Zulfikar Mustafa and the Attorney General of Guyana and the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission”, the statement added.
Justice Patterson was appointed as GECOM Chair in October 2017.
At yesterday’s CCJ hearing, the justices of the court made it evident that GECOM was without a chairman.
