Latest update February 7th, 2025 2:57 PM
May 20, 2022 News
…Opposition calls meeting with AG a fiasco
Kaieteur News – Even as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) met with Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday, officials from the organisation responsible for elections in the country, could not come together to put forward a comprehensive report capturing comments and recommendations relevant to the draft Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill and Regulations.
Opposition Commissioner Vincent Alexander called the GECOM/AG meeting a “fiasco”. In a brief interview with reporters outside the AG’s Chambers, Alexander said that the meeting was a fiasco, “because not withstanding our desire to have internal discussions at GECOM, GECOM has never facilitated an internal discussion, so there is no GECOM position.” Alexander explained that Chairwoman Justice Claudette Singh would have submitted to the AG her personal views as well as submissions from the Opposition Commissioners for discussions within GECOM. At the meeting yesterday, he claimed that the Chairwoman sought to go through her submissions, but it was made clear, Alexander said, “that GECOM is in no position to have an interaction as a collective because GECOM had not collectively discussed anything though we tried on more than one occasion to have those discussions.”
Government Commissioner Bibi Shadick told the Kaieteur News however that she was able to get her submissions over to the AG. Submissions by her fellow government commissioners were also submitted. She told Kaieteur News that the Chairwoman provided to the AG comments on her submissions and that of the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer. Shadick noted however that the Opposition Commissioners did not provide any recommendation and amendments, as they were concerned about internal discussions. It was even suggested, Shadick said, that the discussion with the AG be put off to facilitate the in-house discussions, but to that, the AG noted that there is a deadline to be kept. Shadick said it was somewhat of GECOM coming to air its “dirty laundry” at the AG’s office and to that, the AG said he could not get involved. Shadick has however confirmed that there should have been internal discussions to produce a submission as a collective to the AG. She said but if persons keep putting “spokes” in the wheel and misrepresenting things, things will not go the way it should. When asked what some of the issues that have been preventing the internal discussions were, the Government commissioner preferred the question be asked of the opposition representatives.
Chairwoman Singh had also said that something always comes up when it is time to hold the internal talks on the RoPA draft. Alexander had told Kaieteur News last Tuesday when the item was back on the agenda of the statutory meeting, that the Commissioners had not gotten past the minutes.
A press statement from the opposition Commissioners said that actions predating the AG meeting did not establish the basis. It was said that GECOM was notified of the intended process after a public announcement, and prior communication with bodies other than GECOM. That notification requested a submission from GECOM on the proposed amendments, which were circulated by the AG`s Chamber. One would have expected GECOM as a primary stakeholder to have been involved in the process from its very inception. GECOM itself, the statement said, “to wit the Government nominated Commissioners and the Chairperson demonstrated absolutely no interest in having GECOM participate in the process. Although it was agreed that there should have been an internal discussion among the Commissioners, that never eventuated. On every occasion that the matter was listed for discussion it was deferred to a subsequent meeting. In the meantime, the Chairperson reported 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 statement said that not even the Chairperson`s notes on the proposed amendments were shared internally nor were the submissions of the legal officer looked at. “Commissioner Shadick also advised the Commission that she had made her personal submission, thus there was no need for her to participate in any GECOM internal discussion on the matter.”
“We further reiterated our previous position that GECOM should conduct a review of its conduct of the 2020 elections as the precursor to making any submission on electoral reform. That initiation of a discussion fell on deaf ears, and the Chairperson simply moved on to the next agenda item.”
GECOM has refused to discuss the matter, yet we all came to the so-called consultations. As such, the opposition commissioners iterated that GECOM`s participation in any reform process should follow-on from a review of election 2020, the conduct of which has occasioned the reform. The reform should focus on agreed-to and ventilated concerns of the stakeholders, rather than the concerns of a stakeholder, the governing party, who has assumed the posture of complainant, prosecutor, judge and jury in the post-election period, and in relation to the need for electoral reform.
The statement noted that consultations cannot be reduced to a meeting with the AG, who has been integral to all of the above postures. At 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.
“We are not without views on the needed reform. For example, a matter of concern that predated the elections is the retention of names, on the electoral roll, of persons who are deceased. In that regard, we feel that there is need for a legislative initiative to deal with this problem, as well as there are biometric technologies that can also be used to prevent fraudulent voting such as was uncovered in the recount process and corroborated by evidence from the Registrar of Births and Deaths and the Chief Immigration Officer.” “We also find it duplicitous for the Government to heap praises on the International Community for the role they played in the last elections and at the same time does not heed their call for a new voters` list.” 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”.
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