GECOM absolves self from investigation into refused PPP/C candidates

2016 LGE

Following reports of two People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Toevlugt-Patentia candidates being refused their Oath of Office, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has disclosed that it does not have responsibility for this matter.

GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO) Tamara Rodney on Tuesday explained to this publication that now the Elections were over and the names of candidates have been gazetted, the Communities Ministry was the responsible authority to address these matters.
“That is out of our hands, as we are responsible for the management of elections,” Rodney reiterated.
In light of this disclosure, Guyana Times made several attempts to contact Permanent Secretary in the Communities Ministry, Emil McGarrell to provide clarity on the situation, but he was “unavailable”.
PPP/C Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha had told Guyana Times on Monday that the Party has been in contact with GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield and it was promised that the matter would be rectified. While Mustapha at the time could not speak to the status of the supposed investigation, he had highlighted that the Party remained hopeful that the situation would be soon resolved.
It was at a meeting on Friday last at the Good Intent Office, West Bank Demerara that Overseer of the Local Authority Area of Toevlugt/Patentia in Region Three (Essequibo Islands- West Demerara), Glenis Castello’s prevented Saheed Khan and Ravi Chandra Rickhee from taking their Oath of Office.
The Overseer’s justification was that the name of these candidates did not appear on the list of names of Councillors which she had in her possession.
Guyana Times was told of an apparent mix-up with two lists, and that the Overseer possessed the “wrong list”.
“They kind of did it behind closed doors, some people tried to by-pass the system,” an individual close to the Council had disclosed.
In a statement issued by the PPP/C on April 2, it was noted that the two Councillors displayed to the Overseer and all other Councillors, their Certificate of Election which had been issued by GECOM on March 22.
The Party added that if the matter was not resolved, it would be “a subversion of the will of the electorate in this Local Authority Area”.

LGC in limbo
Meanwhile, as this election saga continues, the establishment of the Local Government Commission (LGC) remains in limbo. The LGC will be tasked with oversight over all local authorities rather than the Communities Minister. The Commission will monitor and assess the performance of the local government organs, administer disciplinary action and implement policies such as tax collection.
Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan is yet to provide clarity on how the LGC would be operationalised, including its location and associated costs.
On March 19, the Minister had said that the operationalisation of the Commission was expected to be “fairly imminent”. He had also posited that the appropriate Government property to house the Commission was identified and had further explained that a rental fee may have to be paid.

Bulkan had last year announced that the body would be established and operational in early 2016. LGE were held on March 18 with an overall turnout of just over 47 per cent. These polls were previously held some 22 prior in 1994.