KEY issues associated with preparations for the general and regional elections – 2011 were elaborated upon when Dr. Steve Surujbally, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), met Thursday, with Andrew Ayre – newly accredited British High Commissioner to Guyana.
Ayre was accompanied by Ms. Ioana Logofatu, Policy Officer, British High Commission. The meeting took place at GECOM’s headquarters during a courtesy call which  Ayre paid on Dr. Surujbally.
Dr. Surujbally updated Ayre specifically on the recent certification of the Official List of Electors (OLE) which marks the completion of a vital element of the preparations for the conduct of the upcoming elections.  The GECOM Chairman recounted, for the benefit of Ayre, issues associated with the recently concluded Claims and Objections exercise and its concomitant activities (e.g. fingerprint cross matching, production and distribution of ID cards for new registrants etc), leading up to the production of an impeccable Official List of Electors for the 2011 elections.  Among other salient issues discussed were GECOM’S consultative open door policy towards Political parties, civil society organisations and the media; the accreditation of domestic and international observers; the provision of technical support, including the delegation of an International Technical Assessor (ITA); the resuscitation of the GECOM Media Monitoring Unit (MMU); the establishment of an IT Monitoring Panel at GECOM; and statutory and administrative tasks to be completed in the run up to Election Day.
Mr. Ayre assured Dr. Surujbally of the continued British High Commission commitment to assisting GECOM in every possible way regarding the conduct of the upcoming elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.