HINTS have been dropped that the results of the Monday, May 11, General and Regional elections could be delivered by the next day.

“The CEO (Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield) is hinting (to) me that we will surprise the nation by giving them the election results the next day, which is the Tuesday afternoon,” Dr. Steve Surujbally, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), said in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

Since President Donald Ramotar announced May 11 as the day Guyanese return to the polls, there have been comments on the timeframe within which the results would be declared. Legally, GECOM has 16 days to officially declare the outcome of General and Regional elections. However, Dr. Surujbally says announcing results the next day is a possibility, although there are external factors that need to be considered in order for this to be a reality.

Those factors, he said, include the fact that political parties have 12 hours after polls have been closed to call for a recount as they see fit, given that their representatives would have been present during the initial count.

The logistics of manoeuvering Guyana’s geography is another consideration, the GECOM Chairman disclosed.
“All the factors will be taken into consideration to get the result out,” he said.

In the meantime, Dr. Surujbally expressed confidence that GECOM’s efforts are progressing apace in the lead-up to May 11.

“Our timelines are moving according to plan. I am enthused by the progress we are making,” he said.

FABULOUS ELECTIONS
Asked about his expectations for the 2015 General and Regional Elections, the GECOM Chairman was optimistic. “These elections will be fabulous. I have no doubt. My team, the way they are working, enthuses me with pride,” he said.

Dr. Surujbally did, however, acknowledge concerns about the upcoming polls, but matched this with hope. He said, “I do have some concerns: because of history and historical devolutions relative to elections management and the electoral politics, as well as voting and balloting, we have had the sequelae of elections that were inimical to the interest of the country.

“…the last two elections went turbulence-free, and I am hoping that we continue in this direction, so that any doubts or concerns that I may have will be allayed. I am hoping that there will not be turbulence.”

CODE OF CONDUCT
The GECOM Chairman added that all contesting political parties would be expected to sign onto a code of conduct which guides their actions over the next few months, until May 11.
“Political parties will, I am sure, sign; and as they did last time, adhere to the tenets within the code of conduct for political parties. They may even improve upon the code of conduct,” he said.

Dr. Surujbally said Guyana can ill-afford a backward step at this moment, considering the progress that has been made. “We cannot afford, as a country progressing into the developed world — and we have every opportunity (to do so) because of our natural resources and the ability of our people to rule and manage — we cannot do this if there is bloodletting, where there are vexations to the point where it boils over.

“We have had this in the past, and it took us decades to get over. I do not want, at least not on my watch, for this to happen.”
Going the route of “bloodletting” would be an unforgivable move, the GECOM Chairman posited.

THE MMU ROLE
An added measure, in the interest of maintaining the laudable electoral processes of the last few elections, is the operations of the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU).

Funding in the sum of US$100,000 has been secured for the resuscitated MMU; and according to Dr. Surujbally, this is expected to be released to the Commission shortly.

“The international donors may construct a pool and hand the resources over to GECOM from that pool, or they may deal with GECOM bilaterally. The manner in which this is to be done is still to be decided,” Dr. Surujbally said.

The primary donors, he added, are the European Union (EU) and Canada, via the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Initially established in 2001, the MMU’s operations are expected to span a five-month period, and its activities, according to the project proposal seen exclusively by the Guyana Chronicle, would include the following:
• Daily monitoring of Guyana’s mainstream print and broadcast media for conformity to best practices associated with professional journalism;
• Informing media practitioners in a timely manner of instances of breaches;
• The production of periodic reports on the Unit’s findings on media practitioners’ compliance;
• Compiling archival information on local media performance for referencing purposes; and
• Providing informational and other support to GECOM’s Public Relations Department.

These are in addition to other undertakings which are outlined in a work plan for the Unit.

“The MMU intends to serve as a bulwark against the purveying of any form of extremism in the media that threatens to derail the electoral processes,” the project proposal said.

Additionally, the document underscored the objectives of the above stated activities of the Unit, once it is fully back into operation. These include the following: To promote the maintenance of the highest professional standards in the media during the upcoming General and Regional elections; nurture a responsible media environment that is supportive to the country’s democratic processes; facilitate the building of harmonious relationships between and among GECOM, the media, the Government, political parties and civil society – a relationship that results in peaceful elections; and to positively influence the process of self-regulation by local media practitioners.

“(The goal of the MMU) is to contribute to the creation and maintenance of a media environment that is conducive to, and supportive of, the democratic processes in Guyana,” the project proposal said.

The document also points out that a vital aspect of GECOM’s preparations for the smooth running-off of the upcoming May 11 General and Regional elections is the timely resuscitation of the MMU, considering that the Unit encourages and influences responsible and democratic media behaviour in the lead-up to the polls.

“The MMU’s value to GECOM and the nation is that it is a necessary tool during election periods to keep partisan reporting of election-related issues to a minimum; rein in those elements of the media fraternity inclined towards irresponsibility and recklessness; promote equality, fairness and balance in news reporting; and to discourage the publication of media content that is racially inciting, socially and politically divisive, inflammatory, unsubstantiated, and generally against the national good,” the document said.

The Media Monitoring Unit was revitalised in 2006 and has since come to be “accepted as an objective and credible arbiter of media practices”, as the document highlighted.

(By Vanessa Narine)