Who sits on GECOM’s commission?

Dear Editor,
The pointed question is asked, “Who are the members that sit on GECOM’s Commission?”, and the answer is three members chosen from the Government alongside three members chosen from the opposition.
This is enshrined in the law that governs this statutory body and one that has proven to be a workable and fair system since 1992. For decades this has been the formula, and one wherein the two major parties dominated whichever side of the commission that they found themselves.
However, all of that changed when a new opposition was elected to parliament; that is, the WIN Party led by Azruddin Mohamed became the new opposition.
As it stands, the WIN Party is required to nominate three members to occupy the opposition benches; this has caused some disquiet and an abundance of uneasiness and unsettling in the PNC’s camp.
The reason for this disturbing uneasiness is that their party were booted out of GECOM, all three of them.
The law stipulates that three commissioners shall come from the opposition, which is the duly elected WIN party; there is no accommodation for a minority party. This is what the PNC is having difficulty accepting.
The point is clear: there is no room for minorities on the commission, and we are not in the business of placating them that they are entitled. Quite frankly, Guyana has had enough of them and are most delighted to see them go.
If I may add, the PNC should have seen this coming; to be dethroned from a lofty position of 31 seats to the humiliating position of gaining only 12 seats tells anyone – even if you were equipped with half a brain – that the people of this country never wanted them in Government nor in opposition.
To relegate a once powerful party into a minority place speaks volumes. The PNC/APNU is at its lowest ebb; the situation as it presents itself is dire. It shows a lowering of that party’s status, power and pride. How are the mighty fallen!
Some of the legal bigwigs in that party are calling for a change in the constitution or an accommodation made so that their party’s nominees are allowed a seat at the commission’s table. But this cannot be done; a constitution cannot be changed to suit the whims and fancies of a political entity merely on the basis of them not accepting defeat; it does not work that way. It also speaks to the fact that commissioners are not life appointees.
In the meantime, Guyana moves forward with its newly elected members of the opposition.

Yours sincerely,
Neil Adams