The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) is still considering whether the contract of Chief Elections Officer Gocool Boodoo will be renewed or not.
A review of his tenure at Gecom is underway contingent on the results of which his contract would be renewed or not.
A source at Gecom said Boodoo has been off the job even before his contract came to an end on April 30. However, the source confirmed that the matter of his contract was still being considered by commissioners.
Sources said opposition members of the commission are not of a mind to renew Boodoo’s contract chiefly because of his role in the counting errors during the tallying of votes from the November 28, 2011 elections. An initial miscalculation of the November 28, 2011 poll nearly resulted in the PPP/C being declared the winner by an outright majority.
Following the miscalculation of the allocation of seats in the National Assembly, an opposition commissioner raised an objection, noting that “it was obvious” something was not right with the results. The seat allocation was then adjusted accordingly and the commissioners gave the CEO approval to make the final declaration, resulting in the combined opposition having one seat more than the government. PPP/C-nominated commissioner Dr Keshav Mangal, in a letter to the editor published early April said all commissioners agreed that Gecom Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally must present them with his evaluation for their consideration as well as any warning letter and any correspondences he would have sent to Boodoo during his tenure, so they can arrive at a fair evaluation that fulfils the tenets of natural justice. Mangal also spoke to the need for Boodoo to be given a fair hearing and to this he said all commissioners agreed. He noted too that it was a unanimous decision that all appointments/renewals of contracts for senior level staff must come before the full commission for its evaluation and appointment and said that decisions on appointments are to be guided by recommendations from Heads of Department.
