The identification and selection of a suitably qualified and competent individual to serve as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must concern all Guyanese regardless of their political inclination and should not be trivialised.
Our history places a burden on us to ensure that the Constitution of Guyana is upheld and followed. It demands too that we do all what is necessary to ensure that the electoral atrocities, injustices and wrongs of our past are never repeated.
So great is this burden, that embedded in our laws is the formula and process that must be followed in the selection of the individual that will have to shoulder the responsibility of overseeing Guyana’s electoral machinery and personnel. 
It is therefore necessary that the ruling A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Government, and the main Opposition People’s Progress Party (PPP) agree on who should be given this task. Both parties must express explicit confidence and trust in the individual’s ability to dispatch the duties of the office with impartiality, independence and honesty.
Any attempt, in the near or distant future, by either the ruling or opposition political party to undermine the process as described in the Constitution could result in political chaos and confusion. Failure to agree on a candidate could also undermine the public’s confidence in the fairness of future elections at the local, regional and national levels, regardless of assurances that they were above board and democratic.
No time should be wasted in filling the current vacancy at the Commission. President David Granger is duty-bound to give more clarifications on the criteria that he is using to determine who is suitable, fit and proper and acceptable (in his eyes) for the post. After all, he rejected the first list of persons that was submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
That aside, the entire saga has led to renewed suspicion on the part of the public about the President’s intention and agenda. There are those who feel that the President will reject every list submitted by Jagdeo, regardless of the merit and qualifications of those nominated to serve in the post, because he intends on utilising his other constitutional powers. He intends on identifying and appointing his own candidate as GECOM Chairman.
If this is the case, Guyanese must prepare themselves to accept a former high ranking military officer with secret ties to the coalition Government as GECOM’s chairman, or a former judicial official who is also connected in some way or other to the ruling parties. They must also be prepared to accept the Government’s explanation for not choosing from Jagdeo’s list and the Public Relations pundits within its fold will go to work immediately to justify the President’s decision.
If the President proceeded in this path, then the intention is clearly to rig the upcoming 2020 elections. It is clearly to undermine the will of the Guyanese people in the coming years. Such a move would be seen as guaranteeing the coalition’s Government’s longevity in Office.
It would not be surprising because the Government has already done everything possible to stymie the process to have the elections petition filed by the PPP heard and determined with dispatch in the courts. It has full control of GECOM with a Chief Elections Officer who appears indifferent to the pleas and concerns of the Opposition about the entity’s conduct and missteps during the May 11, 2015 Elections. It has also skilfully managed to establish a Citizenship Ministry which is overseeing key entities with the responsibility of processing birth and death certificates.
From all appearances too, the country’s security forces are not as independent as they ought to be. And no one knows how they would conduct themselves during and after the next elections, especially if an alarm about rigged elections is sounded regardless if the evidence is compelling as was the case in the 2015 Elections.
There are a number of other views that are being advanced as to the modus operandi of the Granger administration as far as appointing a new GECOM chair is concerned. The Opposition needs to pay keen attention to these developments as they could prove insight to greater plans or other areas of political concern. No stone must be left unturned in ensuring that the actions of the President and his Cabinet are transparent, above board and in the interest of all Guyanese.
Hopefully, the President does not proceed in that path and acts with more wisdom. Let the chips fall where they may.
