With general elections just a year and change away, one of the prime matters to be settled will be the chairmanship of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Considering the performance of Justice of Appeal (retired) Claudette Singh at the 2020 general elections, no part of the electorate, none of the stakeholders on GECOM could justifiably expect that she will be able to deliver an election without the dangerous chaos that she presided over in the March 2020 general elections.
Why Ms Singh needs to make a decision soon about her future is that any sudden departure by the Chair close to the election period could trigger delays in the electoral cycle and instability that will not be good for the country and its people.
When one considers how Ms Singh came to be named as chair one can appreciate the potential pitfalls.
After the resignation of the former Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, then President Granger inexplicably rejected three incarnations of the list of candidates for the appointment of a chair. Eighteen candidates, a number of whom were eminently suited for the post were rejected without any reasonable explanation by Mr Granger. His actions will be recorded as unvarnished defiance of the constitutional provisions governing the selection of a chair.
Amid ongoing discussions between the government and the opposition, President Granger then proceeded to unilaterally appoint the retired Justice, James Patterson as chairman of the commission. Aside from the fact that his appointment was seen as creating conditions for the insidious plot to rig the elections if the result went against APNU+AFC, it triggered a long battle that went all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which expectedly ruled that his appointment ran afoul of the constitution. It was at this stage that a renewed search began for a chair at which point the then Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo caved into pressure for the naming of a chair and submitted Ms Singh’s name along with others. Ms Singh was immediately chosen by President Granger.
In total, it took 10 months from the point of Mr Jagdeo’s first list on December 21, 2016 to Mr Granger’s unilateral declaration of the appointment of Justice Patterson on October 19, 2017. Ms Singh was appointed on July 29th, 2019 after several cases concluded at the CCJ and Mr Patterson ended his unconstitutional appointment by resigning.
Given the current fractious nature of ties between the ruling party and the opposition, it is not inconceivable that a search for a new chair could result in an attenuated process. That would certainly work in the favour of the government which would presumably welcome extra time to complete many of its prestige projects particularly since a flurry of delays have now beset the administration and it is trying to get on top of them. The government may also have leverage in what transpires at GECOM considering the shocking failure of the Stanley John Commission of Inquiry to comment on Ms Singh’s failure to act at a key moment of the attempted rigging of the March 2020 general elections.
It is in the interest of democratic renewal that elections are held on time and therefore all of the key stakeholders should be working to ensure that there could be no undue delay as could be occasioned by the present chair announcing during the elections cycle that she was quitting. Any decision of that magnitude should be made as soon as possible so that the process for a replacement could be concluded speedily. Ms Singh has a special responsibility in this matter and must arrive at a decision soonest.
It is worth recording here Ms Singh’s testimony in her own words before the Stanley John Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on December 8, 2022 about the events on March 5th 2020 when a most flagrant and crude attempt was made at an illegal declaration of the results.
The GECOM Chair told the inquiry that she locked herself away in a room at a crucial juncture on March 5th 2020 when the declaration was being made by District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.
Her statements appeared to have left the commissioners incredulous as she was repeatedly asked by them why she hadn’t taken charge of the situation and instituted action against Mr Mingo.
“…There were so many things on my mind and I wanted to know what to do, the next step. So, I just couldn’t be bothered by anybody. I went up there (the room) just to have a quiet moment,” she told the CoI.
“…I said I will spend some time in a quiet moment up there and just reflect on everything which had happened,” she said while noting “I didn’t want to speak with anyone. I just wanted time because I was not feeling too well. I felt a bit dizzy and I just wanted to be by myself”, she testified.
Whilst in the room, the GECOM chair told counsel for the Commission, Sophia Chote SC who was leading evidence in the inquiry that she could have heard people saying “We want the Chair! We want the Chair!” This, she said was followed by footsteps and persons subsequently threatening to break the door open. “I panicked. I became very much afraid,” she recalled. Ironically, the people at the door were attempting to thwart the rigging of the election.
Not only did she isolate herself, Ms Singh also told the CoI that she was not taking any calls or messages. “I just wanted a quiet moment….People were calling me but I couldn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t feel up to it to talk to anyone,” Ms Singh said.
Deeming her actions “odd”, Commissioner, Justice Godfrey P Smith described it as Ms Singh abandoning her post at a critical juncture during the elections. “To say you couldn’t be bothered seems odd because you are the Chair and you are in the middle of a very serious situation. I simply want to know, at that point did you call other Commissioners and say look, I am feeling stressed, let’s meet together and weather the storm, I am not taking this on, on my own. Did that occur to you or you just preferred to shut yourself away?” Justice Smith asked the GECOM Chair.
Those questions have still not been answered satisfactorily and the electorate should not be saddled again with them in 2025.
