— says Attorney-General

THE draft proposed amendments of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA), one of the pieces of legislation which governs elections in Guyana, which is currently out for consultation, is not final, and recommendations from every sector of society is welcomed to shape the law.

This was highlighted by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., while appearing on the radio programme, News Talk Radio Guyana 103.1FM, with journalist, Denis Chabrol, on Friday when he responded to several issues raised in relation to the way the amendments are being executed.

“The way legislation largely is drafted is that they emanate from the Executive government and they go to stakeholder organisations for their input in a consultative process. This legislation is travelling that conventional route,” Nandlall said.

“We don’t pretend to have a monopoly of what is right. We have put forward our version, these are our recommendations. The other side, and civil society and political parties have been given copies; we are engaged in a consultative exercise,” he added.

Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, while appearing on News Talk Radio Guyana with Chabrol at an earlier date, disclosed that his “main concern” is that there was no consultation prior to the drafting of the proposed amendments. For him, the recently commissioned Law Reform Commission should be spread heading the electoral reforms.

Further, he believes that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the body responsible for carrying out elections in Guyana, should have been involved in drafting the proposed amendments.

He is also critical of the offences contained within the draft amendments and sub-dividing Region Four, saying that it is unnecessary to explicitly place the divisions in law against the backdrop that GECOM usually divides Region Four during elections to facilitate same.

However, Ramjattan is satisfied with the electronic posting of the Statements of Poll on the GECOM website as they are available on voting day, and placing a cap on the number of voters who vote at a specific polling station.

Chairman of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) Timothy Jonas, S.C, who also appeared on the show, agreed with Ramjattan that wide consultation is important, however, he recognised that “a consultative process starts somewhere” and it is “hard” for him to criticise how the consultative process has started.

He highlighted that ANUG has received a letter from Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, with an attached copy of the draft amendments inviting them to offer feedback and recommendations on the draft legislation – which he believes is the start of a consultative process.

“I believe and I hope that there will be some level of discussion across the spectrum in Guyana, and if that happens, the start that has been made to say here’s the draft, let’s talk, is the beginning of a consultative process that may go fairly, so I don’t want to pre-empt to say that there is no consultation,” Jonas said.

He also disagreed that the Law Reform Commission should take a lead role in the electoral reform process but rather should only be consulted for feedback. He highlighted that there is nothing wrong with the governing political party spearheading the process as the government also has the capacity to do so.

WILL NOT ACCEPT
In terms of whether GECOM should have been involved in the drafting of the proposed amendments, Jonas noted that “where the expertise lies is where the distrust lies” and that the Guyanese populace will not accept reforms from GECOM due to a series of past events.

He is supportive of uploading the Statements of Poll onto the website as they are made available so that everyone can tally the results as they are available, noting “who is going to try to undermine that? It would take a brave man … to come with a different number than what’s on the website.”

However, Jonas criticised the offences proposed by the draft amendment, contending that they are of strict liability, meaning the defendant is liable for committing an action regardless of their mental state, and described the offences as “draconian”. He also thinks the sub-dividing of region four is “unnecessary”.

He also opined that the piecemeal manner in which the electoral reforms are being executed adds to making the process more difficult to understand and recommended that, going forward, problematic areas are identified and dealt with “rather than making changes that create more problems”.

“The golden tread that runs through these reforms is to ensure that the ballot that enter the box is the ballot that is reflected in the final results,” Nandlall said while responding to Ramjattan and Jonas, noting that the amendments were designed to create a chain which facilitates this.

Touching on the issue of the Law Reform Commission spearheading the amendments, Nandlall reminded that the Commission is still in its “embryonic” stage and does not have the capacity to execute the undertaking. He noted that proposed laws are usually put forward by the government and then debated before they are enacted.

Speaking on the proposed offences, Nandlall reminded of the magnitude of the attempt to rig the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. He reasoned that attempting to prevent a democratically-elected government from assuming office is akin to treason, an offence which carries a sentence of death.

Nandlall opined that life imprisonment is the appropriate sentence for attempting to tamper with an election due to the repercussions which can stem from such but reminded that the offences can be changed by consultations which are ongoing.

Responding to Jonas, he explained that there is no-objection to amending the proposed draft to include that intention be proven before one is found guilty of committing the proposed offence.

He also reminded that one of the most pertinent issues which arose following polling day on March 2, 2020 was the tabulation of results which saw a number of irregularities, particularly with District Four, and that is why it is imperative to address the issue which is being done by sub-dividing the district.

DISTRICT FOUR REMAINS ONE SEAT
Against allegations that by sub-dividing the region, the government is creating more electoral constituencies which will result is more seats being created in the National Assembly, Nandlall clarified that this is not the case and District Four remains as one seat.

The Attorney-General emphasised that great care and circumspection were employed when drafting the proposed amendments to ensure that the amended sections are not intended or designed to give any political party an electoral advantage, but only to make the electoral machinery stronger.

“One may have disagreements with certain aspects of the amendments and that is understandable, that is acceptable, that is how a democracy functions and that is the reason why we have consultation,” Nandlall said.

He reminded that the process of strengthening the electoral machinery is a national one and urged civil society and citizens at large to get copies of the draft amendments to peruse and offer criticism and advice to further bridge existing gaps in the electoral process.

When reached out for a comment by the Guyana Chronicle on the draft amendments, Ralph Ramkarran, S.C., said that he is supportive of the amendments, especially the division of District Four into the four sub-districts, the Statements of Poll must be published online and the offences.

“I don’t know if these would be sufficient having regard to Guyana’s history, but at least it’s a step forward and it will give people who have bad intentions second thoughts about the consequences of any efforts to rig elections,” Ramkarran said.

He proposed that a “political solution” is the best way moving forward, namely shared governance; however, in the absence of such, he noted that the sentences proposed for the electoral offences are proportionate.

These draft proposed amendments are in keeping with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) commitment to electoral reform against the backdrop of the five-month long shenanigans which followed the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and saw a number of allegations of electoral fraud.