Every time we think we may have taken a step forward in the interminable elections saga, we discover that is probably an illusion. And on those rare occasions when Gecom Chair Claudette Singh appears to use her casting vote to move the process in the right direction, we discover that is probably an illusion too.
As we reported on Monday, on May 22nd Justice Singh wrote the Police Commissioner in his capacity of Chief Immigration Officer asking him to verify whether persons named on a list compiled by APNU+AFC had indeed migrated as alleged, and could not have voted on March 2nd. She requested that the matter be urgently addressed, and Commissioner Leslie James accommodated her and has since responded.
As we reported on Sunday, lawyers and political commentators have said that the Chair is exceeding her remit in seeking information pertaining to the coalition’s allegations, and that only the High Court has the mandate to investigate electoral malpractices. On Tuesday, Chair-man of ANUG Timothy Jonas was quoted as saying: “The information can only be explored in a court … Gecom can’t use this information to override its own records. Gecom’s record now demonstrates that all persons crossed off as voted were present in Guyana on elections day.”
In addition to that, he went on to say that the screening process for voters on Election Day was very strict. “All the party representatives, all the Gecom staff and agents check the list, look at your ID and you are allowed to vote, so Gecom’s own record means that this process went through …” he explained. In short, the system does not allow for fraud. It might be noted too that various individuals who are on the APNU+AFC list as having been out of the jurisdiction on March 2 have now come forward to state that they were in the country, and that they exercised their franchise at named polling stations.
The fact that the Chair wrote the letter at all and did not bring it to the attention of the whole commission at a meeting is bad enough, but the possibility exists that she may also have told only one side about it and not the other. The nation first learned that the Police Commissioner had been contacted on the matter through the agency of coalition Gecom Commissioner Vincent Alexander last week, but when opposition Commissioner Sase Gunraj was asked about it he naturally denied it, since the matter had not come before the commission for a decision. However, now the truth is out in the open since the Singh letter has been circulated in the public domain.
Just what exactly does the Chair think she is doing? She is not a czar with unbounded authority to dictate Guyana’s electoral process according to her own inclinations. As a former high court judge herself she knows the entire operation is bounded by the law, and in this instance there is no legal or moral underpinning for what she has done. As already indicated, and as numerous lawyers and others have said, the coalition’s allegations can only be investigated by a court of law, and the party therefore would have to pursue its claims via the route of an elections petition. However, at the very least, even if Justice Singh still wanted to raise the matter in a formal context, she would have had to have brought it to the attention of the commission in the course of a meeting.
Furthermore, it borders on the unprincipled if she did indeed advise the APNU+AFC commissioners she had written the letter, but left the PPP/C commissioners in the dark. If so, surely she does not need to be reminded that she is not the fourth commissioner for the coalition, she is the Chair of Gecom who should be ensuring that the law is followed, no matter which side of the table it affects. During the week, Justice Singh expressed her concern over a ‘fake’ letter circulating on social media purporting to withdraw the correspondence of May 22nd that she had written to Police Commissioner James. All that can be said is what a pity it was a fake.
If it is that Mr Alexander had his information via a police source rather than directly or indirectly from the Chair, then he is derelict in not raising this at a formal meeting to get confirmation from Ms Singh, and to allow discussion on the matter − although presumably such discussion might still take place, albeit belatedly.
Anyway what the letter signifies is that the Chair has gone off the rails into territory where the commission has no business, and suggests she is going to facilitate the coalition’s clamour for an investigation into their allegations. Why, with all her legal experience, she would want to do this, only she can say. What can be said from the point of view of reasonable people and knowledgeable segments of the legal fraternity is that her professional reputation will take yet a further battering that might yet prove to be irrecoverable.
The practical consequences of what will happen if the Chair goes down this road are more delays of unknown duration. Delays become possible because of the gaps in the amended Recount Order which one can only presume was deliberately framed in this inadequate way. In a column in this newspaper last Sunday Mr Ralph Ramkarran expanded on the various complexities involved and why it is that election results are not likely to be given by mid-June.
He also added another dimension derived from the coalition’s approach in several earlier elections in its PNC or PNCR incarnations when it was in opposition. In those instances, the 2001 poll being a case in point, the party brought cases after the declaration of results but before the swearing in of the president, with a view to invalidating the declaration. That too, he said, allowed “ample opportunity” for yet more lengthy delays.
