Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally has charged his team to remain focused on delivering internationally acceptable general elections this year and not be distracted by recent media reports involving him, according to a release from the Commission.
The release stated that the chairman was addressing senior GECOM managers and the Registration Officers attached to the 23 Registration Offices at a one-day meeting on Friday at the Georgetown Club.
“Referring to recent publications in the media which carry the potential to undermine his integrity and, by extension, that of the Commission and Secretariat, Dr. Surujbally emphasized the need for GECOM Staff not to get distracted from dedicating their best efforts towards the national task of conducting the upcoming elections in accordance with international best practices,” the release stated.
Dr. Surujbally’s name was most recently in the press in connection with his appointment to chair the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) and the subsequent rescinding of that appointment. The opposition parties had argued that his appointment to the body was unconstitutional and unwise in an election year. The Constitution states that the GECOM chairman should be full-time and not employed by any other entity. After much to and fro on the legality of the government’s move, Patrick deGroot was last week appointed to chair the GLDA, with the administration saying this was done not because of any illegality but rather in the context of circumstances beyond their contemplation.
According to the statement, Dr. Surujbally highlighted the necessity for all levels of GECOM staff to reflect on the successful manner in which the 2006 elections were conducted and the challenges encountered in order to ensure that the upcoming election is more successful than its predecessor.
It added that the meeting’s primary objective was to focus attention on follow-up activities associated with the recently concluded Cycle of Continuous Registration leading up to the conduct of the Claims and Objections exercise as a mandatory precursor task for the holding general elections.
Matters dealt with at the meeting included the provision of detailed reports on the Continuous Registration process; the provision of reports on the reconciliation of acceptable applications for registration; and the review of ongoing preparations associated with the conduct of the Claims and Objections. The meeting also addressed how to handle suspected cases of multiple registrations and unresolved transactions such as those relating to applicants whose residential addresses could not be verified.
