— welcomes appointment of new chair

IN her new post as chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Rt’d) Claudette Singh will be faced with tremendous pressure leading up to elections, but her decisions are crucial and must be guided by the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJs) doctrine of “marrying principle with practicality.”

These are the words of advice of the Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA) which, on Sunday, lauded the appointment made by President David Granger on July 26, 2019.
With the position now filled, it should allow for a smooth flow of the processes necessary for the conduct of new General and Regional Elections.

In the light of this, the WPA said it welcomes the new GECOM chair while pointing out that it is clear her tenure would not be an easy one.

“With no known affiliation, she begins her job with some needed capital. She will be overseeing an election which, from all indications, would be keenly fought. WPA hopes that in the final analysis, her stewardship would take the Commission further along the road of impartiality. Because she holds the casting vote in an institution that reflects the political divide, she has the dual role of leader and mediator.

Justice Singh’s first task has to do with the contentious issue of what to do with the voters list. She takes up office in the middle of a fierce debate over house-to-house registration which was ordered by her predecessor. There would obviously be enormous pressure on her to discontinue.”

Since the July 12, 2019 Consequential Orders of the CCJ, Guyana’s two main political parties have met several times.

Completing the first leg towards free, fair and credible elections, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo submitted a list of six names to the President from which Singh’s was chosen on Friday.

“That they arrived at this consensus without any overt external intervention is an indication that Guyanese are capable of solving their problems on their own. This needs to become the rule rather than the exception… we hope that this decision is a signal that hyper-partisanship is giving way to political maturity,” the WPA acknowledged.

Furthermore, the party stated that Guyana will face more challenges ahead as it moves in what can be deemed the most important election since 1953.

The WPA claimed that sections of the civil society elite and the media who encouraged the opposition leader to ignore the recommendation of the CCJ and to insist on unilateralism over cooperation did not aid the situation.

The WPA chided these groups, stating that such actions have contributed to the gridlock experienced over the last few weeks.

“WPA respects the right of all organisations to speak up on national political issues, but thinks that civil society organisations and individuals should also serve as mediators. The display of partisanship and their stance against cooperation and consensus were not their most shining moments,” the release stated.

It added: “Having said that, WPA calls on the political forces to tone down the political pressure and allow GECOM to do its work. GECOM should not be the arena for settling political scores. Compromise and consensus should drive the deliberations and decision-making. Guyana can ill-afford a dysfunctional elections body at a time when the stakes are very high.”

Currently, the elections commission is in the process of conducting the over $3B house-to-house registration exercise.

It is being conducted nationwide simultaneously and has already registered over 50,000 individuals, many of whom were not a part of the previously expired Official List of Electors (OLE).

The activity, budgeted for in 2018, is intended produce a new OLE fit for credible elections, being void of the dead and non-resident and inclusive of those now eligible.