A LAWYER FOR LOWENFIELD; Opposition Commissioners uneasy with GECOM’s pick
Dominican born Senior Counsel Michael Anthony Astaphan who will be representing Lowenfield if all goes well
GECOM’s majority decision to have Dominican born Senior Counsel Michael Anthony Astaphan to represent Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield in the election petitions’ cases is not sitting well with the opposition nominated commissioners. It has been reported that Chairman of the Commission and the government nominated commissioners agreed on Astaphan to represent the CEO.
On Saturday morning, Commissioner Vincent Alexander said that the CEO was not involved in making a decision on who represents him during these matters. Alexander described the commission’s move to appoint Astaphan as “untenable,” and “unprecedented”.
The commission had previously met on this issue where among other things they discussed was the appointment of legal representation for the CEO and whether or not GECOM’s Chairman Justice Claudette Singh and commissioners would have joined the petitions as respondents.
Alexander said the CEO was allowed to identify his own legal representation in the past but accused the Commission of “a foisting of an attorney” on the CEO. He said the opposition nominated commissioners rejected to Astaphan’s appointment because of alleged statements the lawyer made on the elections in the media.
