Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, (PNC/R) Aubrey Norton today declared that the opposition nominated Commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission can only be removed if there is a change in the law or if they choose to resign.

Addressing the matter today after Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed said he wants the three Commissioners to resign, Mr. Norton said he is disappointed that instead of consulting with the rest of the Opposition on a way forward, Mohamed instead went to GECOM to find ways to get rid of the Opposition Commissioners.

“The reality it, it’s a permanent Commission and unless there is a change of law, those Commissioners would remain there,” Mr Norton told reporters today.

Mr. Mohamed has since written to the Opposition Commissioners on the issue, but the law provides for a permanent Commission at GECOM, which means that while the Commissioners are nominated by the Opposition Leader after consultation with the other Opposition parties,they represent the entire Opposition and not a single party.

“I thought as an Opposition party, what WIN would have done was to engage us in consultation so that we could have then deal with the issue and point out to him and his team that it is the law. I think it does not look well if you as an Opposition run to GECOM for GECOM to tell you, we can’t do anything, it shows that you are not doing your home work, you might be obsessed with getting rid of those who were appointed before, you need to do your home work so that you can deal with the issue properly,” Mr. Norton said.

But both WIN and APNU could be getting ready for a Court showdown over the issue, because it is WIN’s view that it should nominate all the Commissioners, while it is APNU’s view that if it reaches to that stage, they should also have a say in the matter.

APNU Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul, said not even the parties that nominated the Opposition Commissioners could recall them from their posts.

“The point I am making is when these nominations are made and they are appointed, they serve at the behest of the people of Guyana really, not necessarily to a political party, because the political party after making the nominations, no longer have that leverage or claim to remove them,” Mahipaul said.

Mahipaul also recalled that two of the three Opposition Commissioners were nominated by the PNC, while the other one was nominated by the APNU+AFC when they were in coalition, to ensure representation, suggesting that the party is also willing to continue with that formula should it get to that point.

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