The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) recently expressed disappointment with the December 25 timeline the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had provided for being ready to host general and regional elections. This date is way beyond the three-month period provided by the Constitution for elections to be held following the passage of a No-Confidence Motion.
The court emphatically stated that GECOM ought to always be on standby. Vincent Alexander, one of GECOM’s Commissioners, told this news agency that he agrees with this perspective but there is something in the law called a force majeure. This means that there are circumstances beyond one’s control which have prevented the natural course to be followed, the Commissioner noted.
He said, “The illness of Justice James Patterson, who had occupied the GECOM Chair post, prevented the signing of an order in December last to start the cycle of registration. That was beyond our control and made it impossible for us to do our work…So his illness was a force majeure in that context.”
Alexander further reminded that funding for house-to-house registration only became available after the 2019 budget was passed. The GECOM Commissioner stressed also that it is imperative that this exercise is done. He said that a period of claims and objections comes in addition to registration and was never meant to be used as a replacement or instead of what is required.
