Dear Editor,
Over the past few months, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) advanced several transparent and commendable election preparation and related initiatives. These were targeted at obtaining an updated and credible list of electors, to ensure the satisfactory conduct of overdue Local Government Elections (LGEs). Aside from the inclusive and fully attended participation of scrutineers from key political parties, the PNC-led APNU/AFC Coalition has reacted true to form, by continuing to cast shallow criticisms on the preliminary List of Electors.
A highly successful continuous registration exercise was conducted between March 7 and May 29, 2022, from all of GECOM’s permanent Registration Offices in all of the ten administrative regions across the country. The very successful process realised over 70,000 transactions, thereby producing a very good Register of Registrants.
GECOM reported that 28,149 were new registrants between the ages of 14 and 17, while 21,130 were new registrants above the age of 18. Also, 4,629 persons applied for transfers; 6,526 persons changed or corrected their information; 7,667 applied for replacement identification cards, and 1,940 registrants retook their ID photos.
The continuous registration exercise was followed by a period of claims and objections, which was further extended at the behest of the PNC-led APNU/AFC. During this period, a mere 18 objections were recorded. Transactions were slow-paced, and this is strongly linked to the thorough work that was done during the former cycle. It is factual that the PNC is historically known for throwing up a list with hundreds of false claims.
In this respect, however, the thoroughness demanded that they support their usual fictitious claims with the necessary supporting documentation. Further, their participating scrutineers were able to confirm that the old system of just putting up unsubstantiated names is a waste of time.
GECOM is now fully prepared and ready to hold Local Government Elections. Hence, all the talk of a ‘bloated’ list is only old talk.
It is public knowledge that PNCR and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton led the cries about the list being bloated based on the inclusion of dead persons, and the claims and objections exercise presented the opportunity for the Opposition to ensure the appropriate screening.
Many of their questions have been answered, and naysayers have had the opportunity to object to names on the List that should be removed. Based on the list put up by GECOM around the country, it is observed that the names of many persons who died are already removed, presumably due to the coordination between the General Registrar’s Office and GECOM.
Aside from the foregoing, one naturally recalls the events and flagrant attempts at thievery that took place following the National and Regional Elections of 2nd March 2020. The events which were facilitated by some contaminated GECOM staff during those 5 unforgettable months must never be allowed to take place again. There is a dire need for confirming fuller transparency in staff selection approaches at these levels, and in defining responsibilities concerning GECOM functions. The brutal lessons of procedural abuse have taught this nation that all ambiguous and open-ended discretion of interpretations regarding the procedure must be made clear, and we must ensure that we have free and fair elections in Guyana.
Because PNC continued their demonstration of immunity by employing a less-than- transparent approach to rigging elections, their support base behaved as if it was a norm in the efforts to keep their knees on the necks of the Guyanese nation for five long months, in order to steal the Elections. The situation therefore justifies a genuine need for us to strengthen legislation by ensuring clarity and supporting stronger penalties to act as a deterrent to all “riggers” who are knowingly concerned in breaches.
Further, GECOM must be fully prepared to conduct a robust regulation exercise during and after the casting of votes’ process in order to realise the activation of transparent and free and fair mechanisms that would produce the earliest announcement of the results. The recruitment and placement of Election Day staff must be transparent and carefully done. The electoral process must be very clear in the Representation of the People Act. Further, the regulations must be very clear and specific, to ensure that the processes are resistant to attempts at uncanny manipulation.
Opposition personnel were very active during the continuous registration exercise, and they were more active during the claims and objections process. They even called for an extension of the C&O exercise. It is good to know that they did not have any negative comments about the process.
Now that GECOM has completed successful continuous registration and claims and objections exercises, it is clear that Local Government Elections are to be held very soon. Let us therefore respect and support the very positive approaches that GECOM has shown.
Local Government Elections must be held as scheduled by GECOM. It will strengthen our democracy at the grassroots level, and unite our people.
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar
