Dear Editor,
I kindly ask that you afford me the same space to respond to his latest misinformation missive regarding the call by various Opposition groups/individuals for GECOM to get its act together.
The matter at hand, “the Asha Kissoon blunder”, is but a simple one, which need not be this distressingly protracted if GECOM — the constitutional agency vested with the powers to direct and control matters regarding elections and political parties that could participate in same — had done its job efficiently and unerringly.
GECOM’s functionalities are unswervingly specific by way of the Constitution, and are more granular in the Representation of the Peoples Act (ROPA) Cap 1:03.
ANUG, LJP and TNM, three new political parties, in 2020 agreed, via a Memorandum of Understanding, to utilize this provision of ROPA to optimize their chance of success. The MOU was made public, and was finely detailed by the press, including the 13 provisions to which all Joinder parties had to adhere.
When the results of the count were calculated by GECOM, the LJP gained 2657 votes, ANUG gained 2313 and the TNM gained 244. None of the three parties was able to gain a seat on their own, but the Combination of Lists was a success in that it was the largest “surplus” of votes by any party/grouping as provided for by ROPA 97(2).
When it came to allocation of seats, the group with the largest surplus of votes was awarded a seat, since one seat had remained after the electoral quota was tabulated, when all parties were proportioned seats based on their votes and in alignment with ROPA 97(3).
For the selection of a candidate for Parliament, the LJP party Representative of their List (Mr John Flores) extracted Mr Lennox Shuman (an eligible name from the LJP’s list), and along with the accompanying signatures from the other Representatives of the Other Lists of the Joinder (ANUG –
Mr. Jonathan Yearwood and TNM – Dr. Gerald Forde), submitted it to GECOM as per ROPA 98(a).
GECOM then did their part in ensuring that indeed Mr. Shuman came from the right list, and proper procedure was adhered to; and as a result, Mr Shuman’s name was furnished to Parliament for acceptance as a duly accepted Member of Parliament. All was good and well with GECOM, Parliament and the Guyanese people.
When the LJP’s time came to an end, as per the MOU, Mr. Shuman duly stepped down as per the arrangement. The TNM and ANUG had internal discussions, and due to TNM requesting of ANUG to show good faith to allow TNM’s representative to go ahead of ANUG in the event that there was a snap election and TNM did not get a chance in Parliament, ANUG allowed TNM to go ahead.
The name extracted was Ms. Asha Kissoon, who submitted documents to GECOM and ANUG on behalf of her party, showing one Mr Kenrick Morgan as the New Representative of TNM’s list. GECOM, being the body that deals with Lists and their representatives, accepted Ms. Kissoon’s information.
The TNM had had some internal issues, and both the Representative (Dr Forde) and the Deputy Representative (Dr Josh Kanhai) of the list (TNM) had left the party. However, neither of the two gentlemen had resigned or relinquished their positions from TNM and to GECOM.
Dr Kissoon purportedly submitted to GECOM documents requesting a change in Representative of TNM’s list to (Mr Morgan), but the documents were inadequate (not enough signatures, at least half the members of the list of candidates submitted to GECOM pre-2020; which equals to at least 22 signatures of those candidates). Dr Kissoon’s documents only bore 8 signatures, and 2 of those signatures were names not on the original list of candidates submitted to GECOM).
Right away GECOM should have picked up this flagrant violation of its laws in the moment of receiving such documentation, and should have advised that party accordingly. The Speaker of the House, on receipt of the name from GECOM, could have only assumed that proper procedure had been adhered to, and he allowed the member to be elected to the hallowed chambers.
No Parliamentarian from either the governing side or from the major opposition ever questioned the appointment, nor did any political party. Clearly, to now cast blame on the Joinder list for not doing due diligence in interpreting the constitution, when it is clearly GECOM’s mandate, is reflective of one who is seeking glory when he himself, as all others mentioned, is to share this blame for this travesty.
The duplicitousness of Mr. Bhagwandin and his feigned ignorance have no bounds when it comes to realizing political hacking for his next blessing, even though he is a highly remunerated state officer, paid by the public purse.
It only came to the fore for all parties, and Guyana for that matter, that something was amiss when Dr Kissoon refused to step down at the end of her agreed tenure, and took a vow of silence. Dr Forde, being the known Rep of the list, then wrote to GECOM, questioning his status and through what means was Dr Kissoon’s name extracted. Simultaneously, he sent a letter to the Hon Speaker of the House, asking for the recall of the Member. It was Dr Forde’s questions which got GECOM’s CEO to look for Dr Kissoon’s documentation regarding the change in Representative of the list; which, when found, was inadequate.
After much deliberation, the advice of the in-house legal counsel was requested, which proved to be very revealing in that it showed that GECOM may have erred once again in matters involving the Joinder seat.
This information has been available to the Commission for over 3 months, but it was only 2 weeks ago (Nov 22, 2024) that the revelation was made public via a press conference.
The solution is simple:
• Admit that GECOM did err on at least two occasions involving TNM. These are in the purported change of Representative, and in allowing the wrong candidate from the wrong list to enter Parliament.
• Inform Dr Forde that he is still the Official Representative of the List of TNM. Once this is done, then Dr Forde’s letter of recall of the Member, sent to the Speaker and received since March 16th, 2023, takes effect immediately.
• The Speaker can then declare the seat open and inform the rightful representative of the right List of candidates (LJP) of the need to fill the vacancy via the right procedure; or, if the LJP is unwilling, to maintain the seat empty until such time that it can be filled, or to the end of the current life of this Parliament.
• Advise the rightful agencies to investigate if taxpayers’ dollars were/are being collected in keeping with the law and take action forthwith.
• Relieve Dr. Kissoon from her chastity of silence and the stress that the public ridicule brings due to her behaviour.
• Take all of this as a learning experience for GECOM and all public offices, to ensure that all staff work according to SOPs and perform due diligence always.
• Look at Electoral and Constitutional reforms that would add clarity to the interpretation of our laws that govern elections, and improve efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusivity at GECOM.
Regards,
Dr Mark France,
Chairman, ANUG
