-says Datadin, supports move to dismiss Lowenfield, Mingo, Myers

CONSIDERING what occurred after polling day on March 2, 2020, the removal of Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers and Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo is imperative if public confidence in the Guyana Elections Commissions (GECOM) is to be restored, People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Sanjeev Datadin, has said.
Datadin made this point while appearing on a Facebook programme, ‘Let’s Talk Politics’ with host Edward Layne, on Tuesday, while discussing the motions tabled for the GECOM trio’s dismissal. The composition of GECOM, as described by Datadin, entails the commission itself, which he described as the “upper level”, comprising of the chairperson and six commissioners, three from each major political party.

Below the Commission is the secretariat, headed by the CEO, then the Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) and Returning Officers (ROs) for the various regions.
The PPP/C nominated GECOM Commissioners, Sase Gunraj, Manoj Narayan and Bibi Shadick, tabled three motions, dated June 1, 2021, seeking the “immediate dismissal” of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo from the commission. They cited a gamut of reasons pertaining to breach of functions, duties, responsibilities and obligations, to support the motions.
“We all witnessed what happened after the March 2 elections, we all saw what happened and transpired from then; we all saw the players; we all saw the events, and we all saw the attitude and level to which people were willing to defeat the will of the Guyanese electorate and the will of every voter in the country,” Datadin said.
Regarding the series of events which transpired following polling day, he is of the opinion that it is about time the commission makes a decision pertaining to the actions of the secretariat and their employees, which will be done through the motions for dismissal that were tabled.

“It is now for the commission itself to decide on whether these persons should continue in the employ and be paid by the government and by the State to perform functions which they so poorly performed in the five months that followed the March elections,” he said.
Datadin expounded on the importance of holding the secretariat accountable and responsible, noting that for there to be local government elections scheduled for this year, as well as general and regional elections in four years, the issues within GECOM must be addressed.
“We can’t go with the same horses that ran that race, we know how those horses run and that does not work, that does not work for democracy that does not work for the people of Guyana,” he posited. The filing of the motions is considered the first step towards GECOM deliberating upon the removal of Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers. Subsequent to the motions being filed, Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, wrote to the trio, providing them with 14 days each to reply and show cause as to why they should not be dismissed.
Once the responses are submitted, they will be debated upon by the members of the commission before a vote is taken. The outcome of votes will determine whether or not Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers are dismissed.

With three nominated commissioners each from the two major political parties, the ultimate success of the motions for dismissal moved by the PPP/C-nominated commissioners rests with the vote of the Chairperson. “This is the elections commission, in my view, getting itself organised, getting itself back on the footing that it should always have and the footing that it had before hereto these events. And we need to bring back public confidence. The public has no confidence in these individuals and we should have persons who enjoy the confidence of the public,” Datadin said. On the other hand, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), which served as one of the accredited observers for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, has said that it is “pleased to welcome the motion tabled” for the removal of the GECOM trio.
“The Private Sector Commission has already pointed out that, since August 2, 2020, our country has already begun to progress and prosper from the political stability in place…from a whole host of new development expenditure, private and public.

“And it becomes critical now that GECOM cleans up its act, that urgent election reforms are pursued by the government and public confidence is restored in the integrity and trust of our election machinery and process,” the PSC stated in a release.
The GECOM trio came in for harsh criticisms from the public for their alleged conduct at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. They have since been charged, and are currently before the courts.
Lowenfield is faced with three counts of misconduct in public office, and three counts of forgery; while Mingo was charged with four counts of misconduct in public office, and Myers with two counts of misconduct in public office.