THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has got a new Chief Executive Officer in the person of Vishnu Persaud. Mr. Persaud is no stranger to GECOM having served in several leading capacities including that of Deputy Chief Elections Officer. He is, therefore, in a position to execute his responsibilities with a fair degree of experience and professionalism. He won out from a list of six short-listed candidates and even though he did not get the unanimous endorsement from the full Commission, there is no question regarding his competence to execute his mandate.

The Guyana Elections Commission is the constitutional body that is responsible for the administration and conduct of elections in Guyana. It is headed by a Chairman and six Commissioners. GECOM is supported by a core staff in its Secretariat. Prior to 1991, the Guyana Elections Commission was comprised of a Chairman who was appointed by the President and one member in respect of each political party which had not less than five seats in the National Assembly. The Chairman of the Commission then had to be a person, who, at the time, was holding or had held office as a Judge of a Court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court. The Commission had a temporary life, in that a member had to vacate office within three months of the date of the election for which he or she was appointed to be a Commissioner. The current GECOM was established in May 2000 by virtue of the Constitution (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2000 which repealed and re-enacted Article 161 of the Constitution on the basis of recommendations emanating from the Constitution Reform Commission and ratified by the parties.

The appointment of a Chairman prior to 1992 was indeed a cumbersome process which in a way prevented several people of competence from holding that office. It was not until the early 1990s that significant electoral reforms were initiated on the insistence of opposition political parties led by the PPP. Among these were a new formula for the appointment of a GECOM Chairman, a new membership configuration which allowed for a fair measure of balance and a Chairman appointed along the lines of the Carter-Price formula. That mechanism worked well until the 2020 elections when attempts were made by the then President, David Granger to depart from the long-established formula and have the Chairman unilaterally appointed. That move was ruled unconstitutional by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The challenge for the GECOM Commission and to the new Chief Elections Officer is how to restore confidence in GECOM to deliver free and fair elections, having regard to the fiasco that transpired in the tabulation of votes in the March 2020 elections. The new CEO now has the task of rebuilding confidence and trust in GECOM, particularly the Secretariat but given his past experience and his known neutrality, that is not something beyond his competence.

With the appointment of a new GECOM CEO, the stage is now set to advance preparations for the holding of Local Government Elections which was due this year but had to be postponed because of the absence of key officers of the Commission including the Chief Elections Officer. According to Mr. Persaud, elections could be held within a year and preparing for the elections is among his priority tasks, having regard to the guidance of the Chairperson and the Commission. In an invited comment immediately after his swearing-in, Mr. Persaud said that he stands for transparency and accountability.

This is exactly what GECOM needs at this time. A credible, accountable and professional Secretariat will go a far way in terms of confidence building and trust in GECOM, especially in the context of what transpired at the last elections. This is an important aspect of our democracy. The aim of GECOM must be to create a level playing field for all contesting parties and no party should feel or allowed to feel that it enjoys an electoral advantage, especially in so far as the Chief Elections Officer and the Secretariat is concerned.

It is in the best national interest to ensure that there is no recurrence of that shameful episode in which it took over four months before a final result was declared. We have had in the past more than our fair share of electoral malpractices. The opposition parties, in particular the APNU+AFC, have an obligation in the national interest to play by the democratic rules and support the work of GECOM to deliver free, fair and credible elections.