— 10,000-12,000 temporary staff to be hired

WITH there being a likelihood that Local Government Elections (LGE) will be held this year, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been allocated some $783 million to begin preparations for the potential polls.

This sum was included in the commission’s $4.1 billion budget, which was approved by the Parliamentary Committee of Supply, on Monday.
The elections were due in 2021 and although $1.1 billion had been allocated for it in that year’s national budget, there were questions surrounding the credibility of several GECOM employees who were implicated in purported attempts to rig the 2020 elections. Several of those employees were eventually fired.

Last December, after months without a Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud was hired to fill the post. And although there are still key administrative gaps within GECOM’s secretariat, provisions have been made for the commission to commence preparations for the Local Government Elections.

A breakdown of what the allocated sum will cater for was provided to the Committee of Supply by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, during her response to questions from opposition parliamentarians.

The minister said that $583 million has been set aside to hire between 10,000 and 12,000 temporary employees for the elections.
Although there are financial provisions for preparations, Minister Teixeira was clear that a roadmap is being prepared by the commission, so it would be up to the stakeholders there to decide on when they are ready to commence the process.

“They have not reached the stage to say what quarter of the year they would be willing to commence,” the minister related.
This, however, did not stop opposition Member of Parliament, David Patterson, from questioning whether there are provisions in the budget to update the list of voters.

In responding to Patterson, Minister Teixeira first referenced a ruling of the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, that no attempt should be made to scrap the existing National Registrar of Registrants.

The minister clarified that the matter of a new list is, however, one for the commission to decide on, but she assured the committee that the budgetary matters will fall into place.

CONTINUOUS REGISTRATION
As it is now, there are provisions for claims and objections, which, in essence, is a process of continuous registration. Persons who were unable to register during the process that preceded the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections would have a chance to do so whenever the registration process commences.

To support the registration process and other activities of the commission, the government has also budgeted funds for increased security services, equipment maintenance, rental of generators, containers to store ballots, and the for public awareness campaigns.
“The budget was prepared here based on what they [the secretariat] know,” Minister Teixeira said.

The government has repeatedly indicated that it is ready to hold the elections, but is awaiting the guidance of the GECOM. Notwithstanding this, the opposition continues to press the issue.

Last Friday, during the final day of the budget debate, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall said: “We believe in democracy, we believe in people’s choices, we believe that for our country to continue to evolve for development to come flowingly to our people that we must have Local Government Elections. We are going to have Local Government Elections this year, we have budgeted billions of dollars for LGEs and are going to have LGEs this year.”

Also this is the case, Dharamlall said there has been efforts by some of the APNU+AFC GECOM Commissioners to stymie the holding of the elections, which will see the elections of the councillors for the 80 local democratic organs (LDOs), which includes the 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and 10 municipalities, including the city.

Although the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development is responsible for announcing the date for the LGEs, this can only be done after consultations with GECOM, which decides its readiness and has responsibility for holding the elections.