The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) took a decision today to interview four of the shortlisted candidates who are vying for the position of Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO).
The candidates, Melanie Marshall, Mohamed Arjoon, Deodat Persaud and Aneal Giddings are to be interviewed on Wednesday.
Initially, Neil Bacchus was among those shortlisted, however, he was not selected for the interviewing round.
The interviews will be conducted at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat.
In a telephone interview with News Source, Elections Commissioner, Vincent Alexander said while four persons have been shortlisted, he believes there is only one candidate who has met all of the requirements.
“We are going to have problems because Aneal [Giddings] does not meet the requirements. If we go strictly in terms of the requirements in the advertisement, the only person who meeting [the requirements] is Marshall,” Mr Alexander said.
Last April, Marshall was appointed GECOM’s Voter Registration Manager. Prior to her appointment, she acted in the position for six years.
However, she has been working with the Elections Commission for more than 16 years. Marshall holds a Master of Public Administration degree as well as and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Management.
Mr Alexander said aside from Marshall, Deodat Persaud has also served the Elections Secretariat extensively.
“Deodat [Persaud] is on the margin because he has been a RO but he has not been permanent but he has been a RO for many years. So that would be our basis for arguing for Deodat [Persaud]. Marshall definitely has the years; Aneal [Giddings] does not have the years,” he explained.
Persaud has been an Assistant Registration Officer since December 2005. He has a Master of Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Guyana. He once served as a Commissioner on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).
Meanwhile, Anneal Giddings is currently serving as GECOM’s Information Technology Manager. According to his Linked-In profile, he has a Master of Science (MSc) in Project Management from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus; and a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering from Universidad de Matanzas.
The move by the Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh led Commission to interview the shortlisted nominees comes more than 17 months after the Elections Secretariat advertised the post.
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