If the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) proceeds with house-to-house registration on Monday as it had planned, then it would be acting illegally says attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin.
Expounding on this conclusion, Datadin reminded during his interview with the Guyana Standard moments ago, that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was clear in its ruling that Justice (Retired) James Patterson was holding the post of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) unconstitutionally. This was premised on the fact that his appointment was unilaterally executed by President David Granger.
Therefore, everything Patterson touched can be considered the fruit of a poisoned tree. This would include his vote for house-to-house registration a few months ago.
Datadin said, “There can be no house-to-house registration now because that exercise is born out of a decision from the Guyana Elections Commission where the Chairman voted. The six Commissioners were split along party lines. It was Patterson’s vote that led to the decision of house-to-house…Since the CCJ ruled that his appointment was invalid, then so was his vote.”
The lawyer said that if GECOM goes forward, it would be doing so unlawfully and the GECOM persons carrying out the process can be held criminally liable.
The Guyana Standard tried to make contact with GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander on the matter but those efforts proved futile.
Last month, Alexander had said that GECOM expended significant resources for house-to-house registration and even contracted about 9,000 persons for the exercise. He had said that despite procurement issues, the activity was slated for a July start. Further details along these lines can be found using this link: https://www.guyanastandard.com/2019/06/26/house-to-house-registration-projected-to-start-in-july-more-resources-already-allocated-to-fast-track-process-alexander/
