Dear Editor,
WHILE it cannot be denied that the Guyana Elections Commission is a tough place to be, it is clear that the chairperson will have to be objective and ensure that we get free and fair elections. The torture and depression, along with the tremendous cost that this nation had to bear during those terrible five months, must never occur again. Further, the quality of persons employed at GECOM must be men and women with integrity, persons who will be honest and above all, they must be bold and courageous.

Rudy Collins was a man of substance and he will forever be remembered as the first Chairman of GECOM who was prepared to bite the bullet and deliver free and fair elections in Guyana. The task then was not easy, but after all the threats and pressure and with the support of the Carter Center, Guyana witnessed the return of free and fair elections. After the 1992 Regional and National Elections, Collins triumphantly gave way to Edward Hopkinson who did a fair job in overseeing the Local Government Elections (LGEs) in 1994. At those LGEs, which were held after two decades, the PPP/C dominated the polls.

Enter Senior Council Doodnauth Singh as Chairman of the Commission and highly successful National and Regional Elections were held in 1997. Then the powerful former head of the army, the eminent Joseph Singh was the Chairman of the Commission for the 2001 highly successful National and Regional Elections.

For the 2006, 2011, and 2015 National and Regional Elections, Guyana had the rough period under the chairmanship of Steve Surujbally. In 2006 the National and Regional Elections went pretty smoothly. However, by 2011 the performance of the commission deteriorated as the staffing of the workers was taken over by the secretariat and the commission’s members allowed things to slide. There were serious allegations against the employment of election day staff. Worst was the role of the chief elections officer and the administration with respect to accountability. As a result, the Guyana Elections Commission was not audited for the 2015 National and Regional Elections. The 2016 and 2018 Local Government Elections and the 2020 National and Regional Elections are yet to be audited.

With the dismissal of the famous ‘trio,’ we are witnessing a plethora of advertisements to fill vacancies at the commission. It is most interesting to see the expression of interest from a wide cross-section of persons. There are foreigners, along with some very experienced individuals who have applied for positions in GECOM. Guyana must put an end to ‘rigged’ elections and citizens must be loud in their call for urgent LGEs.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Kumar.