The configuration of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) where the government and the opposition each name three commissioners has been a main source of contention over the past few years and more particularly during the highly controversial March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The method of appointment was based on a recommendation President Carter made for the 1992 election that has come to be known as the “Carter Formula” and was later integrated into the Constitution. According to that formula, three commissioners are to be appointed by the president, at his own discretion, and three appointed by the president on advice from the leader of the opposition. The chairperson is to be an independent person appointed by the president from a list of six candidates that are “not unacceptable” to the opposition. The leader of the opposition provides that candidate list after meaningful consultation with political parties represented in the National Assembly.
This configuration has been cited by the Carter Center as “highly polarized” and “excludes newer parties”, with other institutions and citizens positing that the formula has outlived its usefulness since the configuration only caters for participation between the governing party and the main opposition.
According to the Vice-President (VP), Bharrat Jagdeo, the formula is not the problem, or at least, it was not the driving force behind the March 2020 General and Regional Elections going terribly awry that saw results being delivered exactly five months after the close of polls.
In fact, he placed blame squarely at the feet of the “technical team” that comprised the former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo and others, who have since been charged with electoral crimes.
These charges have now prompted the government to make changes to elections laws, primarily the Representation of the People Act (ROPA). Some proposed changes feature harsher penalties, including life imprisonment and multimillion-dollar fines for those found thwarting the will of the electorate.
Jagdeo said that it was the formula that enabled Commissioners to prevent the technical team from subverting electoral processes. While he said that his government is “open-minded” on changing the formula, he noted the need for “serious safeguards” to be implemented to prevent the ‘capricious’ behaviour of the technical team.
People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Leader, Aubrey Norton, said that Jagdeo’s assertion that the PNCR wishes to abolish the formula is tantamount to “spreading misinformation”. Norton, in fact, said that it is GECOM Chair, Claudette Singh, “who must go”.
“The Chairman is supposed to be independent and what we are saying is that the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission is not independent. We have noted that she votes on every occasion with the PPP…Claudette Singh must go! She must go to ensure that we have elections that are free and fair. Her presence will not facilitate that. It is our intention to ensure a united Guyana. We do not want elections to divide us again,” Norton said during his featured address at the PNCR’s General Council last Saturday.
