GECOM meets but no decision on polls

-over 230,000 persons registered

Vincent Alexander
Vincent Alexander

A long-awaited meeting of the fully constituted Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) yesterday failed to yield an expected decision on the holding of general and regional elections as the body was not yet in receipt of a written copy of the High Court’s ruling on the legality of the ongoing national house-to-house registration exercise being undertaken by the commission.

“The question on the way forward was not determined in the main because we are still not yet in receipt of the written ruling of the judge and there are those of us who prefer not to rely on reports and third hand information,” government-nominated commissioner Vincent Alexander explained outside GECOM’s High Street office after the meeting.

At its first meeting following the appointment of retired judge Claudette Singh as its new Chairperson, the Commission was expected to make a decision on a possible date for the holding of elections. Instead, the seven members of the commission received a series of updates from the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield. “We got an update on house-to-house and on preparations for elections,” Alexander shared, while adding that based on information provided more than 230,000 persons have so far been registered.

Claudette Singh

Opposition-nominated commissioner Bibi Shadick stressed that nothing happened.

Shadick seemed reluctant to engage with the media, sniping at one point that she had nothing to say.

“I don’t have to answer to you,” she said in response to repeated requests for details of the meeting. Her colleague Robeson Benn refused to speak altogether.

According to Alexander, the members of the commission hope to be in receipt of the ruling soon so that a meeting can be held before the statutory meeting, which is scheduled for August 20th.

On Wednesday, Justice George-Wiltshire ruled that the current house-to-house registration exercise being conducted by GECOM is not unconstitutional but she also cautioned that existing registrants cannot just be deleted from the GECOM database unless certain criteria provided by law are met—that being by death or by specified means of disqualification.

The acting Chief Justice also declined to set a date for elections, while noting that the Caribbean Court of Justice specifically said that it would not be setting a date by which elections were to be held as that was a matter for the politicians and that the court would not intervene in that realm.

It had been expected that following the ruling, GECOM would be in a position to advise President David Granger on when it would be ready to hold elections, which became due following the passage of the December 21st no-confidence motion against government.

President Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo are at odds on the holding of the elections. While Jagdeo has been urging the president to set a date for the polls in order to comply with the constitutional requirements attendant with the passage of the motion, Granger has insisted that it is GECOM that has to advise on its readiness to hold the elections.

The commission’s decision to proceed with the house-to-house registration process has further complicated the question of when the polls can be held.

Following a meeting with Jagdeo last Friday, President David Granger had expressed the hope that Justice Singh would communicate to him the Commission’s position within a week.

“We agreed that it is the Elections Commission which is central to this process; it is an electoral process; it is not a governmental process or parliamentary process. It is an electoral process, which is entirely in the hands of the Elections Commission,” the president was quoted as stating by the Ministry of the Presidency at the conclusion of the meeting, which lasted for close to two hours.

According to the ministry statement, which was issued after the meeting, President Granger, who was accompanied by Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon, maintained that the Commission has to advise him of its readiness before a date can be named.

“I made it clear that it is impossible if not impractical for me, even though in the final analysis I have to proclaim a date, I could not do so without the advice of the Elections Commission,” he said, before adding that “We are looking to hear something, maybe in a week’s time.”

The Ministry of the Presidency had indicated that the next meeting of the two leaders was scheduled for after both the Chief Justice’s ruling and the subsequent meeting of GECOM.

According to Granger, this is at the request of Singh who asked to hear the judgment of the Supreme Court and meet with the members of the Commission.

“We feel that her request… was a reasonable one,” he said, while noting that the two sides are working towards a consensual outcome.

He, however, maintained that government’s position has not changed.  Government has maintained that it will not resign since the Caribbean Court of Justice has issued no orders requiring it to do so and Article 106 (7) provides that it shall remain in office until an election. “We are pursuing a course that can guarantee a credible list and can be the basis of credible elections…We are working towards seeking common ground so that the Guyanese people can be assured that we would have credible elections in the shortest possible time,” he said.

Alexander yesterday refused to speak on the merits or consequence of the High Court’s ruling but noted that GECOM might consider a review of the legal framework governing registration to provide for persons who are not resident to be removed from the list. 

He also maintained that house-to-house registration remains the only way to clean the list that “is on the table.” “Claims and Objections does not provide that opportunity,” he stressed.