The Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon last week purported to instruct the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on the manner in which advertisements and notices connected with election activities should be placed. Dr Luncheon was responding to correspondence from the Chairman of GECOM, Dr Steve Surujbally.
In part, Dr Luncheon’s missive said “with the exception of those associated with discharging GECOM’s constitutional and legal responsibilities (Orders, Notices, Acts and Amendments)” advertisements must be submitted to the Government Information Agency for placement on www.eprocure.gov.gy.
Leaving aside the matter of the suitability of GECOM advertisements and notices for the internet it must be said unequivocally that Dr Luncheon’s demarche on GECOM was completely out of order and must be rescinded. Dr Luncheon has no locus standi in advising GECOM in any matter either as Head of the Presidential Secretariat or as Cabinet Secretary. His correspondence to GECOM represents a grotesque transformation of the PPP/C from championing the independence of the Elections Commission to sneaky forms of undermining and compromising it. This gross interference in the affairs of this constitutional body must be extirpated soonest.
Article 162 of the reformed constitution of Guyana makes it unequivocal whence GECOM draws its authority on all matters before it. It says at 162 (1) “The Elections Commission shall have such functions connected with or relating to the registration of electors or the conduct of elections as are conferred upon it by or under this Constitution or, subject thereto, any Act of Parliament; and, subject to the provisions (of) this Constitution, the Commission –
(a) shall exercise general direction and supervision over the registration of electors and the administrative conduct of all elections of members of the National Assembly; and
(b) shall issue such instructions and take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of this Constitution or of any Act of Parliament on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with or relating to the matters aforesaid”.
We are unaware of any act in the name of Dr Luncheon conferring upon him the fiat to circumscribe the right of GECOM to manage each facet of the election process as it sees fit and for this to be fully funded by the state.
In our news item of October 15, 2010 reporting on the directive by Dr Luncheon, Dr Surujbally was reported as saying that GECOM’s civic and voter education activities cannot be done solely using the website identified by Dr Luncheon and “We are fighting that”. Dr Surujbally also noted that GECOM received the advisory from Dr Luncheon like other budget agencies. In addition to GECOM, the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2003 also made the Parliament Office, the Office of the Auditor General, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Ombudsman budget agencies. Dr Surujbally said that while the Act encroaches on the commission’s constitutional mandate, it is an issue that the body has left to be solved by Parliament since it created the problem.
While Dr Surujbally is right about this and about Parliament’s responsibility in this matter, the intolerable intrusion by Dr Luncheon requires GECOM – its chairman and all of its members – to formally repudiate the contents of the directive and to make it unmistakably clear that such impositions in the future will be given similar treatment.
It will be interesting to see how those commissioners appointed by President Jagdeo in his own deliberate judgment treat with this matter considering the PPP/C’s historic association with reforms of the Commission to zealously guard its independence and its ability to deliver free and fair elections. The abominations of the Jackson and Bollers commissions must not be allowed to roam the plains of this land again.
The holding of general elections is not a cheap affair. It is costly and the time has come for the state to foot this entire bill without the customary recourse to donors.
At the same time, corners cannot be cut and stakeholders must be aware of sinister moves to obstruct or compromise the process. Parliament must be pressured to clearly establish the independence of constitutional bodies like GECOM and the Office of the Auditor General by giving them the ability to decide their annual budgets under the scrutiny of the Public Accounts Committee. There should be no more room for Luncheonesque machinations.
