WITH the appointment of a Chief Elections Officer and other key personnel of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the stage has now been advanced for the holding of Local Government Elections, which were due a year ago but had to be deferred.

Part of the difficulty in the holding of Local Government Elections has been the intransigence of the main opposition political party, the APNU+AFC, which seems to have a difficulty in facing the electorate and to become meaningfully involved in electoral reforms to deepen and consolidate the democratic process.

Take for example the proposed amendments to the electoral laws of Guyana. Amendments to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), both the substantive act and the regulations, have been circulating for quite some time now, but the APNU+AFC seems oblivious to this reality. Despite the fact that these have been in the public domain since November last year, there has been no response to date by the main opposition party.  The smaller A New and United Guyana (ANUG) to its credit has provided some feedback on the proposed amendments to the electoral laws.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali in October last had made it clear that the long-awaited legislation to improve Guyana’s electoral system is a top priority, especially when seen against what transpired at the last elections when attempts were made by the APNU+AFC Coalition in collaboration with ‘rogue’ elements of the GECOM secretariat to derail the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. President Ali had indicated that under no circumstances will there be future elections under the past GECOM dispensation.

And according to PPP General-Secretary and Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the whole idea is to make more transparent and to define responsibilities in the Act that are ambiguous and to put in place a set of penalties for people who may try to steal elections.

As noted by Dr Jagdeo, the entire electoral process from registration to the declaration of results needed to be overhauled to ensure that all ambiguities are eliminated and that there is full transparency in the entire process. Statements of Poll (SoPs) are envisaged under the amended Act to be in the public domain before the tabulation of votes commences.

This is fully consistent with the norms of transparency and accountability of the electoral processes from start to finish. The inputs from the political parties, civil society and individuals will then be incorporated in the putting together of a draft bill, which will then be subject to further discussions at the parliamentary level.

These are all confidence-building measures which could only enhance the transparency and integrity not only of GECOM, but also of the entire electoral process. With Local Government Elections due this year, it is important to have the amended laws in place in order to prevent a repeat of what took place at the last General and Regional Elections.

The APNU+AFC has to answer to the Guyanese electorate the reason or reasons for its refusal to respond to the draft amendments proposed by the PPP/C administration. So far, its silence on the matter has been deafening.