The Alliance For Change (AFC) has endorsed Vincent Alexander’s nomination to serve as a commissioner on the Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM).
In a statement issued on Friday, the AFC said it welcomed Alexander’s appointment, and hoped he would demonstrate the required objectivity and fortitude and not view himself as the representative of a political party. “It cannot be business as usual either in the way in which decisions are arrived at, or in the way in which political control is sought to be exercised over commissioners who are expected to be independent,” the AFC said.
Alexander, the former PNCR Vice-chairman and MP, was nominated to fill the vacancy on the commission that was created when former opposition-nominated commissioner Haslyn Parris resigned. The PNCR announced Alexander’s nomination on Saturday, explaining that it followed the constitutionally-mandated consultations with the leadership of the parliamentary opposition parties.
The AFC said it had proposed Dr Karen Pilgrim, Clayton Hall, Rajendra Poonai and Bert Carter as possible candidates, given their eminent qualifications. In the end, it said, Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin adjudged Alexander to be the most suitable candidate.
The AFC said Alexander’s nomination comes at a time when there is much work to be done both in preparing for the long overdue Municipal and Local Government Elections and in the reform of GECOM itself. There are matters requiring immediate and urgent attention, it added, identifying the compilation of a new electoral list, the process of continuous registration, and the strengthening of GECOM’s public credibility and effective capacity as being among the main ones. In this regard, the AFC said it intends to meet GECOM and individual commissioners soon to advance its views on the functioning of the body.
Alexander’s nomination follows recommendations for a review of the way in which GEOM is composed, to ensure that it is not held hostage by political conflicts. The OAS, the Common-wealth and the Carter Center have urged that the process for the composition of the commission be changed, citing it as one of the reasons for the deadlocks and delays that led to a lack of trust and confidence among the general public. Significantly, the Carter Center has recommended changing the Carter-Price formula for the composition of the GECOM to avoid division along political lines. Since the 2001 elections, the Carter Center had urged that careful consideration be given to alternative models for the commission, towards either reducing or eliminating entirely political party representation in favour of increasing the role of civil society and professional experts. The Carter-Price formula, used since the 1992 elections, governs the composition of the commission. It provides for the appointment of the six members of the commission – three appointed by the President, acting in his own deliberate judgement; and three appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Opposition Leader after meaningful consultation with the opposition parties represented in the National Assembly. The Chairman is appointed from a list of six persons, who are not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Opposition Leader after he has meaningfully consulted with the non-government political parties represented in the Assembly.
