CHAIRMAN of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Dr. Steve Surujbally has given the assurance that the commission will commence the implementation of its Work Plan for the conduct of Local Government Elections immediately after the outstanding legal lacunae are passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President David Granger.This pledge was made by Dr. Surujbally during a meeting on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, in the GECOM boardroom, with Mr. Derek Lambe, Head of Political, Press and Information of the European Union in Guyana; Mr. Bryan Hunt, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United States of America in Guyana; British High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr. Greg Quinn; and Canadian High Commissioner Mr. Pierre Giroux.

Dr. Surujbally was accompanied to the meeting by Mr. Vishnu Persaud, Deputy Chief Election Officer, and Ms. Juanita Barker, GECOM’s Legal Officer.

Following the provision of background information pertaining to the commission’s state of preparedness for the conduct of Local Government Elections, the senior diplomats sought clarity on some “cloudy” areas of interest which impact the timelines of a few crucial prerequisites that must be accomplished.

In this regard Dr. Surujbally, supported by Mr. Persaud and Ms. Barker, provided relevant explanations including the need for the outstanding legal lacunae, which were discussed in the National Assembly on Wednesday, to be passed and assented to by President David Granger to clear the way for the extraction of the Preliminary List of Voters from the National Register of Registrants (NRR), instead of from the 1992 Official List of Electors as is currently provided for in the law.
It was also pointed out that included in the Bill are a few crucial pieces of legislation that must also be enacted for the elections to be carried out in an efficient manner, e.g., the movement of Nomination Day from 21 days to 50 days before Election Day.  If this is not done, the existing timeframe would be insufficient for the designing and printing of 585 different ballot papers.
The National Assembly late Wednesday night passed the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2015, with minor amendments as Government gears up to call long overdue Local Government Elections.
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan said despite the passage of the Bill it would be the Guyana Elections Commission which will soon announce the date for the poll, which has not been held here since 1994.
Bulkan made the disclosure following repeated queries from Opposition members, many of whom claimed that the administration will not be in a position to hold the elections by December 7 as had been promised. Minister Bulkan nevertheless informed the House that as the Government awaits the date from GECOM, it has heard the cries of the people, has felt their pain and remains resolute in ensuring their right to constitutional democracy.
The Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2015 seeks to amend 22 sections and insert a new section in the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, clearing the way for the holding of the long-overdue elections. The approved Bill also widens the definition of Election Officer to include Deputy Chief Election Officer, Assistant Chief Election Officer and Deputy Returning Officer.
In addition, it widens the definition of identification card to include a card issued during the continuous registration process and inserts a definition of by-election. The bill deems vagrants as not ordinarily residents anywhere and provides for the Preliminary List of Voters to be extracted from the National Register of Registrants and not from the 1992 Official List of Electors.
Meanwhile, the diplomats were told during their meeting with GECOM on Wednesday that consequent upon the passage of the Bill by Parliament, preparations for, and the prerequisite conduct of Claims and Objections leading to the finalisation of the Official Register of Voters would take GECOM at least to the end of 2015.
The diplomats were given the assurance that notwithstanding the foregoing, the commission’s secretariat had already gone ahead with (i) training and selection of permanent and temporary staff to man the offices where Claims and Objections will be conducted within the respective Local Authorities, (ii) identification of locations for the establishment of Offices for Electoral Registrars and Assistant Electoral Registrars, and (iii) the identification of persons to be trained and appointed to work as Returning Officers, Deputy Returning Officers, Clerks to the Returning Officers and Election Day Staff with specific reference to the conduct of Local Government Elections.
Dr. Surujbally gave the guarantee that immediately upon the passage of the outstanding legal lacunae and the relevant assent by President Granger, the commission will give the green light for its secretariat to move forward with the Work Plan for the conduct of Local Government Elections.

At the end of the meeting, the GECOM Chairman responded positively to the diplomats’ collective request that they be kept abreast with developments relative to the forthcoming Local Government Elections as they unfold.