GECOM must call elections within 90 days notwithstanding the President’s delinquency

Dear Editor,
The utterances of the President of Guyana and his Minister of State after the meeting with the Opposition Leader on March 6th tell the story of incompetence and manipulation in regard to the running of the Government.
President Granger asserts that GECOM is “an independent agency… [and one] cannot intervene, cannot intrude, cannot interfere with the work of GECOM, so we have to allow GECOM to do its work.” I think all stakeholders pretty much agree with such a premise. However, more light is shed on this country’s desperate straits when Minister Harmon states that “the President would meet with GECOM on consultations with respect to their readiness for the conduct of elections; more importantly, the financial resources that are required and the timeline that is required.”
The President has been delinquent in his duties, since these questions should have been broached since Dec. 22, 2018. Why wait more than two months to garner this information? Such delinquency is one of many reasons why this Government is not fit for governance, and could be a reason why the Government fell on Dec 21st.
The Opposition Lea-der rightly declared that “GECOM is a creature of the Constitution; GECOM cannot override the Con-stitution.” GECOM is not above the Constitution. The latter is the supreme law of the land, and it is foolhardy to think or act otherwise.
GECOM must call elections within 90 days, notwithstanding the President’s delinquency.
The most outrageous statement, perhaps, was when the President declared that “there is no crisis” situation facing the country.
The Constitution clearly enunciates that elections must be held within 90 days, if the Government has fallen. If no elections are held within that time period, and Parliament does not have the approval of another date with a two-thirds majority, President Granger needs to spell out what will transpire in such a scenario. The business community as well as ordinary Guyanese are desperate to ease their fears, and need for the President to disclose this information.
The proverbial ball is in the President’s court to avoid an impending and dangerous crisis situation in the country.

Yours truly,
Dr Devanand
Bhagwan