-says Rohee

GUYANA Elections Commission (GECOM) commissioner Clement Rohee has said that the opposition-nominated representatives continue their attempts to block the holding of Local Government Elections (LGEs) next year.

These comments were made by Rohee in a social media post where he noted that the agents have embarked on a “wrecking exercise” aimed at blocking GECOM’s efforts to hold LGEs in the first quarter of 2023.

He added that while LGE will not be held this year, from all indications, it can be held in the first quarter of next year providing that Minister of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall, acknowledges GECOM’s advice and sets a date.

As these preparations are being made, he noted that the opposition commissioners continue their targeted attacks on the chairperson, the chief elections officer (CEO) and the work planned for the elections.

As a result of the opposition’s efforts and claims that the CEO is incompetent, Rohee said that the CEO was compelled to return to the drawing board on nine occasions and return to the commission with several revisions of his work plan, which will guide the commission, the secretariat and staff for LGEs in 2023.

As this process reached its peak, he said that the GECOM chair was left with the option to write Minister Dharamlall concerning the window for the holding of LGEs.

“In the circumstances, the chairman must be commended for bringing an end to the tortuous back and forth engineered by the opposition-sponsored commissioners, whose sole objective is to frustrate any consensual agreement on an implementable work plan for the holding of LGEs in early 2023,” he said in the post.

As such, he mentioned that the opposition – APNU+AFC – appears to be working through their commissioners to frustrate GECOM’s commitment to holding early local government elections in 2023.

Recently, GECOM commissioner Sase Gunraj also called out the attempts by the opposition to delay the LGEs. However, he noted that despite these attempts, GECOM has already identified a timeline for the holding of the elections.