‘With all the staff and the money that we pump into this agency something has got to be wrong. . .’
President Bharrat Jagdeo has rejected declarations from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that it is ill-prepared for holding local government elections this year, saying he finds its position inconceivable.
At a press conference last week, GECOM Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally ruled out the possibility of holding the elections this year and pointed to delays both in the start of ID card production and the completion of legislative reforms.
Surujbally had pointed out that management of any electoral process is technical in nature and insisted that the secretariat’s technicians be allowed to do their work. He cautioned too that the state of affairs should never be perceived to be inadequacies of GECOM.
However when asked for a response to GECOM’s declaration, Jagdeo told reporters at his New Garden Street office that he was very disappointed at the commission’s statements. Further, he said, “With all the resources we put into this agency, it warrants a second look at what is being done over there.”
He said too that he found it inconceivable that the commission could not make proper arrangements to prepare for the elections this year. “With all the staff and the money that we pump into this agency something has got to be wrong … I said this to (Dr Roger) Luncheon and I plan to say this to the commissioners,” he said.
Jagdeo pointed out that at any one time Guyana was spending far more on a per capita basis than many other countries in the world, on organizing elections.
“Something got to be wrong and I just don’t accept this because GECOM made the declaration.
They should prove to the people of this country. The media should ask more questions…Why is it they can’t have these things done?” he questioned.
He related too that in some states around the region heads of state declare elections, giving the relevant authorities sometimes very short time frames to prepare.
“Some heads of state or heads of government would say next month we would have election on that day and the authorities are ready to hold elections.
But in this country we are setting up for years and its just one set of excuses after the next.”
The president said he holds Chairman Surujbally responsible for the delay as head of the agency. “We can’t keep pumping taxpayers’ money ad nauseam into this agency that just have this laid back kind of thing in reciprocity.”
Indignant at accusations by the major political parties that the commission has been slothful, pussyfooting and incompetent, Surujbally at Tuesday’s press conference had defended the body’s work, while noting that it had stayed away from pointing fingers at any person or entity.
He insisted that the most important stakeholder is the voting public and that it was counterproductive for anyone to confuse them. “I think it is shameful to attack and stigmatize GECOM, which is the most important tile in this democratic process,” he had said.
Although the commission had been initially working towards meeting a November 30, 2009 deadline, it still has not identified a new date for readiness, pointing out that many decisions still have to be made that rely on inputs from other stakeholders, including the parties in parliament working on crucial reforms.
It however remains hopeful that these decisions could be arrived at before the parliamentary recess on August 10, failing which the commission’s timelines could be compromised.
GECOM will not put up any completion dates until the contractors for the production of identification cards arrive.
The commission is still to share its compilation of registrants with stakeholders for them to agree on it. This issue is one of the serious contentions with GECOM still unable to erase doubts that indeed the National Registrar of Registrants is ready.
