Person’s complaining about the Guyana Election Commission’s Local Government Election (LGE) education programme are “seeking to whitewash their own deficiencies,” according to chairman of the election management body Dr Steve Surujbally.
Surujbally made the statement while speaking at a meeting held with the 71 Returning Officers (ROs) and their clerks at the Georgetown Club yesterday. The polls, which have not been held since 1994, are to be run off on March 18 in 62 Neighbourhood Dem-ocratic Councils (NDCs) and the nine Municipalities.
“Today’s paper, yesterday’s paper, we even have a corner in some of the papers talking about local government. We have 15 elements that we are constantly promoting and projecting to this nation, yet there are people seeking to blame us, trying to whitewash their own deficiencies; saying, ‘we ain’t really know because no one is teaching us,’” Surujbally said.
He added that the commission has also held several meetings in various communities which have been poorly attended, as a result of which he has recommended that the Deputy Chief Election Officer organise a press conference or press release as an addendum to their public education efforts.
Surujbally noted that Gecom has become the “quintessential elections management body” in the region and other sections of the world as several other bodies from across the world have asked for and received guidance from it.
“When we offer help to Haiti, it is our own documents we use, no one else’s. We are so good that we are seeking International Standard Organisation (ISO) certification as an election management body that does its work correctly,” he added.
Yesterday’s meeting was primarily held as a refresher course for the ROs on Nomination Day procedures.
Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield explained to reporters that though the ROs have already been trained in the procedures more than once, Gecom felt it necessary to bring them together 10 days before nomination day so that they could once again be told exactly what to do.
“For our own comfort level, we sought to do this,” Lowenfield said. He added that the ROs were also engaged on polling stations which needed to be identified within the specific constituencies.
Speaking with the ROs, Lowenfield challenged them to operate at only the highest standards. “You cannot falter; there is no room for mistakes, a mistake that you might make will tarnish us all,” he said.
