Dear Editor,
At yesterday’s meeting the Chair indicated that after listening to the various submissions on the creation of the Operations Coordinator position and the appointment of Mr Giddings, she decided that the appointment should be rescinded as of Feb. 8. The opposition nominated commissioners argued for weeks that both the creation and appointment were ultra vires.
The delay in appointing the Deputy Chief Election Officer continues. Mr. Rohee once again has not made his submission after promising to do so by last Friday. This is the second time in three weeks that he failed to keep his promise.
The plan for local government elections was approved by a majority vote. The opposition- nominated commissioners abstained on the grounds that a fresh list and a mechanism to curtail multiple voting is a sine qua non for the holding of any election. They also maintained that the demarcation process was hijacked by the PPP and that gerrymandering was perpetrated in keeping with what the Minister had illegally set out to do.
The Government-appointed commissioners also opposed entertaining any discussion on the introduction of digitization of the registration and voter identification processes.
Yours sincerely,
Vincent Alexander
