CHAIRMAN of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr. Steve Surujbally, has indicated that a meeting with all three political parties could happen sometime in September.

“It is our policy to remain in contact with political parties. We are overdue for a meeting face to face. I think come September we will be meeting face to face, whether or not we have elections,” he told the Guyana Chronicle in an invited comment.
Asked what issues could constitute the agenda for such a meeting, Dr. Surujbally stated that the issues could range from the tabulation exercise part of an election process and the introduction of an automated ballot system to addressing lacunas in the legal framework and finalisation of demarcation of boundaries for local government elections.”
“I would also like to hear about a fixed day for general elections or local government elections,” he said.
The GECOM Chairman made it clear that until such a meeting the Commission will continue its work, as mandated.

Of the three political parties, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has been most vocal in raising concerns about the work of the Commission.
General Secretary of the PPP, Mr. Clement Rohee, at a news conference earlier this month stated that Guyana is on “election footing” and expressed the view that the party’s engagements with GECOM is expected to intensify.
“We are on election footing and I am sure that the tempo of the relationship between GECOM and the party will intensify,” he said.
According to him, the party officials have met with the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, and presently remain engaged via regular correspondences.
Rohee said: “I have met with Mr. Lowenfield and following that meeting there has been a slew of correspondences as a follow up to the discussions we have had.”
“We wrote to the GECOM Chairman about our concerns, related to GECOM’s readiness, on one hand and GECOM’s preparedness, on the other, for the hosting of either general or local government elections. They have responded.”
The General Secretary made it clear that the party does not intend to “drop the ball” as it continues its engagement with the Commission.
He said: “We will not leave any stone unturned in our talks with GECOM…we have a lot of experience with electoral rigging. We have a lot of experience with role and place of GECOM in elections and we intend to invoke all the experiences, all the knowledge, in order to ensure any upcoming election is above par.”
On the issue of reforms at the Commission, the General-Secretary stated that party welcomes reforms that the GECOM commissioners consider useful.”
“We are keenly interested in any administrative internal reforms or measures that they commissioners of GECOM might consider useful. We have no problems with reforms that are progressive, that are well meaning, that are aimed at enhancing free and fair elections in Guyana….we will welcome them,” Rohee said.
The Guyana Chronicle also spoke to GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield who was clear in stressing that the Commission will continue communications with all three political parties, which address concerns and suggestions on different issues.
“Our engagement is continuous with all parties,” Lowenfield said.

(By Vanessa Narine)