…President maintains elections body must advise him on its readiness
…as Jagdeo softens stance on extension of timeframe for polls

IN his meeting with the Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday, President David Granger maintained that he will not proclaim a date for General and Regional Elections until and unless the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) advises him that it is in a state of readiness to conduct credible elections.

The President met with the opposition leader at State House, one day after he had engaged the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, S.C, CCH; its Commissioners; and Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Moments after exiting the high-level meeting on Friday, the President, during an on-camera interview, said both sides have maintained their existing positions. “I will continue to abide by the Constitution and pay attention to the Chairman of the Elections Commission who will advise me,” the Head of State said.

He noted that during the meeting, reference was made to the Consequential Orders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and their respective interpretations. In the case of government, it maintained that the CCJ did not issue any coercive orders. “I made it clear that it is impossible if not impractical for me, even though in the final analysis I have to proclaim a date, I could not do so without the advice of the Elections Commission,” he said.
The President is hopeful that the chairman of the Elections Commission would communicate the commission’s position to him in a week’s time. The Elections Commission’s Chairman is set to meet with the full Commission on Thursday August 15, one day after the High Court hands down its ruling on the legality of the ongoing house-to-house registration exercise.
For the President and his government, they will respect and be guided by the advice of the commission. “We agreed that it is the Elections Commission which is central to this process; it is an electoral process; it is not a governmental process or parliamentary process. It is an electoral process which is entirely in the hands of the Elections Commission,” the President stated. While dates and timelines are circulating in the local press, he reminded that it is the Elections Commission that has to advise him before he proclaims a date. The opposition has been pushing for elections to be held on or before September 18, 2019 but to date, GECOM has not indicated that it is in a position to facilitate elections. “Everything hangs on what we are told by the chairman speaking on behalf of the commission,” the President said while remaining optimistic that the commission will communicate with him next week.

He said, however, it is only fair that the GECOM Chair be allowed to hear the judgment of the High Court, and meet with the full commission before communicating the Elections Commission’s position to him.

“We are looking to hear something, maybe in a week’s time. At the same time, I would like to assure the public that the meeting today with the leader of the opposition was important and beneficial. It helped to clarify issues which still exist within the two sides. There has been no agreement but greater clarity on the positions of the two sides,” President Granger said.

He noted that both sides are working towards a consensual outcome.
“We are pursuing a course that can guarantee a credible list and can be the basis of credible elections…We are working towards seeking common ground so that the Guyanese people can be assured that we would have credible elections in the shortest possible time,” he said.

Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who accompanied the President to the meeting, made it clear that no agreement was made between the two sides with respect to a date for elections. “It is clear that the opposition had their views on how they see the activities with respect to having credible elections…but the President has made it clear that he will not be naming a date which can in fact become impractical for the commission to accomplish,” he said.

In the meeting, the President also maintained that the Official List of Electors (OLE) has to be credible. The director-general iterated too that the government will ensure that the commission has all its resources to facilitate elections. “The President made it clear that he would like to see early elections and that he has provided all of the resources that the Elections Commission required for them to work…it would not be in our interest to super-impose any coercive measures on the commission that they cannot meet,” Harmon added.
Outside of State House, the opposition leader said during the meeting the two sides exchanged views on the pending General and Regional Elections, the stipulations of the Constitution and the ruling and consequential orders of the CCJ.

“I am not going to speak about what we agreed to and what we didn’t agree to,” Jagdeo told reporters while reiterating that his position remains the same for the timeline for elections and the ongoing house-to-house registration.

He said now that the Elections Commission is fully constituted, it is his hope that elections would be held soonest. Jagdeo, however, expressed concern that the compilation of the National Register of Registrants (NRR), due to the national registration exercise, would be completed until 2020. It is from that database that the Official List of Electors would be produced, however, the opposition leader has been pushing for the old NRR and the now expired List of Electors to be used. According to him, during a period of claims and objections, the list could be cleansed and eligible persons added.

Asked by the Guyana Chronicle whether the opposition is prepared to move to the National Assembly to extend the timeframe for elections if certain conditions are met, Jagdeo, in response, said that decision is still pending. “Right now we have not made a decision on that because right now there is no date and there is no reasonableness on the part of the government,” he explained, noting that he has heard positive statements made by the government representatives that would encourage the opposition towards a solution but in other instances, there are hardline positions that could be very discouraging.

Jagdeo was accompanied to the meeting by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali. The two sides have agreed to meet again after both the Chief Justice’s ruling scheduled for August 14 and the meeting of the full commission.