A full review into the conduct of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections (GRE) is warranted before any changes are made to laws that govern elections in the land. This is being strongly recommended by the Opposition-aligned Commissioners at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman.
The Commissioners said that after weeks of calling for a discussion of a review, the Chairperson, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh, at the most recent meeting, simply moved on to the next agenda item. The trio also objected to the method by which GECOM was informed of the proposed amendments, which was by a public announcement, and the fact that the commission was not involved in the process from its inception.
The Commissioners said that on every occasion that the matter was listed for discussion, it was deferred to a subsequent meeting. They added that the Chairperson eventually informed them that she had submitted comments on the proposed amendments along with a submission that the Opposition nominated Commissioners had forwarded for consideration at the anticipated internal discussion.
The trio claimed that they were not privy to the Chairperson’s comments, and therefore, any comment emanating and purported to be from the Commission does not reflect discussed nor agreed upon positions.
The Commissioners noted, too, that GECOM was invited to a meet with the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, to have consultations on the proposed changes to the RoPA. They pointed out that government-proposed changes to electoral laws cannot be inclusive given that consultations were reduced to a “one-on-one” with the AG.
“Consultations cannot be reduced to a meeting with the AG…At a minimum, the wider community in their geographic locations, and spheres of interest, should be allowed to interrogate any proposals; and among themselves seek clarity and consensus. The process cannot be reduced to the AG having one-on-ones with the prerogative of determining the outcome of a flawed process, in which his role is manifestly incestuous,” the Commissioners said.
The trio concluded that the manner of conduct of the proposed reform is “undemocratic, flawed, deficient and self-serving, and consequentially is not an appropriate platform for the birthing of the substantive changes that are required, hence we cannot embrace the process as formulated, notwithstanding our commitment to the much-touted and needed reform”.
The Commissioner’s comments come a day after the main Parliamentary Opposition was called out by the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for attempting to delay electoral reform.
But the Irfaan Ali-led government is yet to declare its position on the opposition’s call for a review of the 2020 elections. Meanwhile, it maintains that the former government colluded with GECOM officials in a botched attempt to rig the process, resulting in a five-month protraction.
It also maintains that observers’ reports that explicitly detail flaws in the system are sufficient to effect changes to electoral laws. One of the proposed changes includes life imprisonment and multimillion-dollar fines for anyone, including GECOM officials, found guilty of electoral fraud.
