President not obliged to take GECOM’s advice – Govt commissioner

Government’s Commissioner on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander, has admitted that President David Granger is the one who is delaying the elections, since the power lies with him to announce a date for the polls.
Guyana Times has reported in several articles that according to the Constitution of Guyana, it is the President who has to dissolve Parliament and set a date for elections.
Speaking with media operatives following a meeting with the diplomatic community at GECOM on Thursday, Alexander said the Elections Commission only starts preparations for polls after being given a date by the Head of State.
“What people don’t seem to understand, [it] is not for GECOM to automatically go into preparing for the elections outside of an order from the President giving a date. The President has to give a date for elections and that is what GECOM has to work with because there are statutory dates leading up to that date. You can’t determine those statutory dates outside of an order,” the Commissioner stated.
On this note, he went on to reject accusations that it is the elections body that is delaying the holding of General and Regional Elections by the constitutional March 19 deadline.
According to Alexander, what is required of GECOM is for it to state its level of preparedness, which is what the Commission has done.
“So to accuse GECOM of flying in the face of the Constitution is to not understand GECOM’s role. GECOM doesn’t set an elections date, GECOM responds to a set elections date and the fact that the emissaries were sent was a clear understanding by those who sent them that they have to find out GECOM’s state of preparedness,” the GECOM Commissioner pointed out.
Against this backdrop, the Government appointed Commissioner was asked whether the President is obliged to adhere to the advice of the elections body or can go ahead and set a date of his choice.
He responded saying, “Legally he might not be obliged, but certainly in the terms of the spirit of the Constitution and in terms of any logical framework, one would expect him to take that advice. And more than that, we have precedence of [presidents] taking that advice [from GECOM].”
After weeks of stalemate on the way forward, GECOM earlier this week voted to continue its normal activity and to inform the President that new General Elections cannot be held by the constitutional deadline – a move which has placed Guyana on the brink of a constitutional crisis.
During a Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, GECOM Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson used his deciding vote and sided with Government Commissioners to pass a motion that new elections could not be held in 90 days as constitutionally mandated.
This decision was made during a meeting of GECOM Commissioners on Tuesday at the Commission’s Kingston, Georgetown headquarters, where they put three issues in relation to elections preparation to a vote.
The first being elections cannot be held in 90 days; the second issue had to do with funding for elections, and the third was for GECOM to return to normalcy. The votes from both the Government and Opposition nominated Commissioners created a deadlock, which was broken with the Chairman’s deciding vote.
Meanwhile, the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has said in a subsequent statement that the situation at GECOM would certainly guarantee that Guyana is pushed towards a constitutional crisis.
It said too that the action by GECOM is intended to influence the court proceedings set to continue today in the Court of Appeal.
The Constitution makes clear that the Judiciary cannot extend the deadline by which General and Regional Elections are constitutionally due; such an act remains in the remit of the Legislature.
According to the Party, GECOM in its refusal to hold elections demonstrated its illogical willingness to toe the Government line and in so doing, it has made the Constitution of Guyana subservient to the will of the Commission and this should not be the case.
GECOM’s mandate, as stipulated by the Constitution, clearly states in Article 162 (1) of the Constitution that: “The Elections Commission shall have such functions connected with or relating to the registration of electors or the conduct of elections as are conferred upon it by or under this Constitution or, subject thereto, any Act of Parliament.”
Although the Opposition has been calling for elections within the constitutional time frame, the Government claimed that it was up to GECOM’s readiness to host same.
Since the passage of the no-confidence resolution, GECOM has been dragging its feet with respect to elections preparation. It has also been calling for house-to-house registration which could take months.
However, at a press conference earlier this month, GECOM had given July as a timeline for the hosting of elections, but at the same time, it stated that the present voters’ list would expire on April 30. At the time, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield had indicated that given the circumstances the process forward would be a claims and objection with registration for a duration of 28 days period and a seven days objections period to clear out deceased persons. This, he noted, will ultimately ensure that there is a list within the shortest time possible with the objective of having an early deliverable elections.