The bill paving the way for the Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) to proceed with the House to House registration exercise was yesterday passed in the National Assembly despite reservations by the opposition that a part of it may threaten the independence of the commission.
GECOM has indicated its readiness to start the exercise which is scheduled to commence on January 7, 2008 and will run until July 4, 2008.
Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy moved the second reading of the National Registration (Amendment) Bill 2007 before its passage on behalf of Attorney General Doodnauth Singh who was not present at yesterday’s sitting.
In supporting comments Ramsammy said that the bill sought to reinsert the House to House registration exercise to allow the establishment of a database for the continuous registration exercise as was done in the run up to the 2006 general and regional elections.
He recounted that on June 13, President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin had met and an agreement reached for the conduct of the exercise.
The bill authorizes registration officers, by house to house visits within the registration division or sub-division assigned to them, to obtain applications from every person 14 and above to be included in the National Register of Registrants.
A section also gives the Commissioner of National Registration the authority to establish a central register which shall consist of a computerized database of the information and the originals of the registration records of all persons registered under the house to house registration process.
If any difficulty arises in connection with the application of the provisions of the act, the bill provides for the elections commission to, “after consultation with the Minister, by order make any provision that appears to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty.”
It is this clause which generated the opposition’s argument that the independence of the commission may be threatened. The assertion came from People’s National Congress Reform-1 Guyana (PNCR-1G) executive Basil Williams who nevertheless offered the party’s support for the motion.
“The maintenance of the independence of GECOM is important and this is also guaranteed in the constitution and so we need to be wary of anything that may reduce it.. and what is creeping in is for GECOM to consult with a minister before making provisions to deal with difficulties,” Williams asserted.
“We cannot agree with this,” he added.
Meanwhile Williams also called for the legislation to more specifically address the guarding against any other information entering the database.
This point was later elaborated upon by Opposition Leader Corbin who later won the support of the House and an amendment was inserted. Williams noted that the party would not hesitate in supporting the passage of the legislation taking the proposals into account.
Corbin also expressed concern about other information getting into the database and the requirement for GECOM to consult with the minister. Corbin objected to the latter clause on the grounds that it was a duplication already set out in the existing legislation. He requested a deletion of this clause but this did not receive unanimous support and so still stands as part of the legislation.
Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Raphael Trotman said his party supported the legislation as a requirement if the country is to have any kind of elections which could be considered free, fair and transparent.
However he questioned Williams’ difficulties with the motion in light of the fact that Corbin and Jagdeo had met for related discussions. “One is left to wonder what happens behind closed doors … There is probably a need for an umpire, a third party. If they are still bickering then something is wrong,” he said.
Corbin later argued that he and Jagdeo had consultations on the need to have the continuous registration exercise done for the sake of having a new register of registrants. He said too it was his duty to consult with the president and he noted that a new electoral list would remove “a plank of controversy.”
The United Force (TUF) leader and PPP technocrat minister Manzoor Nadir said his party did not see any need for the house to house registration exercise and in his view “ten years down the road the same problem would exist.”
“I don’t see the need for it because all it would eliminate is persons who may be temporarily out of the country and may not be here at the time of the registration. That person will have to come back and then go to one of the continuous registration centres and re-apply and so 10 years down the road we will have the same problem,” Nadir argued.
PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar took flak when he asserted that the voter identification card which had come on stream for the 1997 election was without flaw.
“We have not had a single complaint or problem about the ID cards,” he said.
This triggered heckling from other members of the House and those who spoke after, including Trotman, raised examples of many persons who possessed more than one card and could use it to commit electoral and other crimes.
However, Ramotar argued too that GECOM was independent and has enjoyed freedom of action. (Heppilena Ferguson)
