GECOM reform to be on agenda during upcoming talks

Jagdeo/Granger meetings

This month, President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo are expected to have a series of meetings to discuss several matters of national importance and it is expected that the reform of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will be among the topics the two leaders will be deliberating on.
The need for electoral reform, and Constitution reform as a whole, have long been highlighted and during its campaign trail leading up to the 2015 elections which got it into office, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition had committed to have these reforms. While the current Administration has come in for some criticism for not fulfilling this campaign promise, President Granger has assured that the issue of GECOM restructuring would be included on the agenda for upcoming talks with the Opposition Leader.
According to the Head of State, GECOM is currently operating under the ‘Carter Formula’, which he said has exhausted its usefulness. The ‘Charter Formula’ refers to the composition of the Commission, which is comprised of six commissioners – three from the Opposition and three from Government – and a Chairman appointed by the President in “meaningful consultation” with the Opposition Leader.
This method was devised by former United States President Jimmy Carter following the controversial 1992 elections.
However, President Granger faced heavy criticism after he unilaterally appointed retired Justice James Patterson as the new GECOM Chairman last year after rejecting three lists of six nominees submitted by the Opposition Leader.
This had once again reinforced the need for electoral reform, something which the Head of State recognises but told media operatives at his press conference on Friday that it would require consensus on both sides.
“Yes we could consider the reform of GECOM, we are still working under the Carter formula which we generally agreed to have exhausted its usefulness. It’s like having a cricket match with one umpire from each team… it is not a formula for consensus, it’s almost a formula for gridlock. So there needs to be a change,” he posited.
The President went on to note that while no proposal has been placed on the table as yet for these reforms, new rules will have to be established.
“We will always come back to the situation in which the main parties would have either through consensus or through convention or through constitutional change be to made nominations and once those nominations come from political parties, you can anticipate certain consequences. So the reform of GECOM – just as you have at the Police Service Commission or the Public Service Commission – would depend on the nomination of human beings coming through the National Assembly and coming from political parties. So I’m in favour of reform but we must adopt the architecture, we must adopt the procedures which are in place for other constitutional commissions,” he asserted.
According to the Head of State, the reform of GECOM is something which could be possible before the 2020 General and Regional Elections but, again, it would depend on the agreement of the two sides.
However, while the need to end the practice of having political appointees as members of GECOM has been recognised, commentators and political activists have said that it is too late now for such reforms to be realised.
For decades now, election observer groups – both internationally and regionally – have been insisting that while GECOM’s purpose for existence is to administer free and fair electoral processes, Guyana should consider reforms that would reduce or eliminate the politicised composition of the election body in order to ensure independence and impartiality.