IN ADDRESSING concerns expressed in the media by members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), President Bharrat Jagdeo has now made it quite clear that his administration has no intention to affect the independence of that body. At the same time, the Head of State has emphasised that GECOM must show its own appreciation for confirming with Guyana’s procurement laws, and to avoid any distortion of the policy directive pertaining to advertisements and notices in the media.
Contrary to the interpretation given to a directive from Dr Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, President Jagdeo told a news conference on Friday that it was simply wrong to assume that voter education would be affected by the process.
“We don’t determine what decision GECOM makes in relation to the (conduct) of elections…We are not interfering  with their advertisements for voters’ education; but clearly (it) better believe that we (as the government) are going to watch how they spend taxpayers’ money in procuring materials and services…”
Fair enough. The more so, as noted by the President, there could be no repetition of the procurement practices of the last general election in 2006 in the outsourcing by  GECOM of materials that proved quite costly to taxpayers.
Indeed, it’s quite amazing that, as President Jagdeo disclosed, over $100M in election materials were supplied to GECOM “without any trace of a tender…”  
There appears to be a disconnect between the policy directive, as initially issued by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, and the contention by GECOM.
In the circumstances, it may be useful for a meeting to take place between GECOM representatives and the Presidential Secretariat, the sooner the better, to discuss what’s appropriate and desirable in the national interest.