GECOM commissioner blasts PNC/R for hypocrisy over new appointments

…after party calls for chair’s resignation despite approval of qualified managers

Despite Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, approving qualified candidates to fill two key vacancies in the secretariat, the fact that they were not candidates the opposition supported has prompted the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) to launch further attacks on her.
The vacancies in question were for a new Civic and Voter Education and a new Logistics Manager. In response to the opposition’s attacks on the Chairperson, however, GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj on Friday slammed the party for its hypocrisy over the subject of appointments. Nor did he spare Opposition GECOM Commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman.

“It is rather ironic that the PNC/R has launched an attack on the Chairman of GECOM in relation to her recent vote to appoint (the new candidates). This attack comes on the heels of similar objections from the Opposition trio of Alexander, Corbin and Trotman on the same issue,” Gunraj noted in his comments.
“Differences of opinion on suitable candidates to fill vacancies at the Commission is not new. In fact, for as long as I can recall, there has hardly been a candidate that has had unanimous support in their appointment. While amnesia is a condition that naturally affects all of us with age, it seems as though selective amnesia is being resorted to in this instance.”

Gunraj pointed to the alleged wrongdoing by former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Gocool Boodhoo in 2011. Despite this, Boodhoo continued to be employed with GECOM, something that Alexander and Corbin as commissioners even back then should be more than aware of.
“Alexander and Corbin are the only two current members of the Commission who were Commissioners then. They ought to be ashamed to mention that much less cite it as an example of unsavory employment practices at GECOM. They now seek to lay their incompetence and non-action at the feet of others.”

Myers
Additionally, he referenced when former Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers was appointed under the chairmanship of late retired Justice James Patterson, who himself was appointed by former President David Granger under a cloud of controversy and eventually had to step down from the post after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) found that he was not legally appointed.
According to Gunraj, in the case of the appointment of these new candidates, they actually have the qualifications and experience. He noted that Myers, who is currently before the court charged with electoral fraud, did not have the requisite experience in managing an election prior to her appointment as DCEO.
“In that (previous) instance, a person with no election experience was appointed in favour of a person who previously served in the very position. This appointment was reviewed by the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) and found to be improper.”
“In the instant appointments, both candidates exhibited the requisite qualification and experience to execute tasks associated with each position. They have dutifully served in various capacities with the Commission for several years and over several elections, without issue,” Gunraj said.
Furthermore, Gunraj pointed out that both candidates who the Opposition had favored for the Civic and Voter Education and Logistics Manager vacancies, are employed in other positions within GECOM… positions they continue to hold.

Calls for resignation
In their press statement, the PNC/R accused Justice Singh of favouring the PPP/C, by discharging her constitutional duty and voting in favor of qualified candidates for the civic and voter education and logistics manager.

The party went further and called for the chairperson to resign and for a new chairperson to be appointed. They also included their customary call for a clean voters list and for biometrics to be used at the polling place.
Their calls for Justice Singh to resign are not new, as they reached fever pitch during the lead up to and after the March 2020 General and Regional elections, when Justice Singh repeatedly used her tie-breaker vote at the commission to ensure that the will of the people were respected at the polls by the election body charged with protecting that will.
When it comes to their calls for biometrics, the PPP/C Government has already said that such measures are not only unnecessary, but open the door for mishaps in much the same way as the decision to use ID cards in the 1997 elections opened the door for those elections to be challenged in court.
As a matter of fact, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, during his weekly programme of ‘Issues in the News’, had expressed the belief that calls for electronic voting were aimed at causing “mishaps” on election day. (G3)