President Bharrat Jagdeo is of the view that the leadership provided by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally is lacking and that was the point he wanted to make in the scathing attack on the commission chairman in an Office of the President (OP) release earlier this week.
Questioned by reporters on Thursday as to whether he may consider replacing the chairman the President said replacement was an issue that has to be dealt with jointly by the government and the opposition as there is a process in the selection of a chairman of the commission.
According to President Jagdeo, who spoke to reporters after the opening of the East La Penitence health centre, his government is trying to have elections held early and that “everyone should want this… an opposition that says it is fighting for democracy should want local government elections held early because of this huge gap in holding local government elections.”
He said it was the view of people that it was the government that was delaying the elections and so he wanted to make it clear “that the executive wants local government elections, the holdup is elsewhere…
“I think with the large sums of money we have spent on elections in Guyana they should be in a better shape and the chairman likes to cast blame on everyone else except on his responsibility to govern and lead and that is what I was pointing out, that he has the responsibility to lead the process forward and I find that leadership role lacking,” the President charged.
The OP statement, issued through the Government Information Agency (GINA) on Monday, said Surujbally had wasted time and money; that statement came on the heels of various expressions of disappointment by the ruling PPP/C and the President.
However, Alliance for Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan in an invited comment told this newspaper on Tuesday that he felt there was mischief afoot and Surujbally was just being used as the scapegoat. He pointed out that the commission could only operate with the right finances and legislation in place.
As a result, Ramjattan said he found it ludicrous for the President to lay the blame solely at the commission’s feet and have the constitutional office under attack in the context of the delayed release of funds and the late passage of pertinent legislation.
“They just want to do mischief and so are setting the groundwork by using GECOM as the scapegoat,” he had said.
When contacted for comment on Tuesday, Surujbally had told Stabroek News that he was considering a response to the statements.
The government said it was concerned that Surujbally had sought to defend himself against the pointed criticisms by the OP about the delay in holding local government elections this year. It accused Surujbally of squandering money, opportunity and goodwill in his failure to run off the elections on time.
Government alleged that he sought to distance himself and the commission from the responsibility for the delay by pointing his fingers at the President.
The statement accused GECOM of planning activities consecutively instead of simultaneously and added that the time lost was never regained. It also accused Surujbally of imposing “his will with regard to the rejection of the use of valid documents for registration, an unfortunate decision that discredited and worse, delayed the registration exercise.”
