PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee on Monday claimed that the majority of elections day staff was made up of one ethnic group, although he would not identify which one.
“Those who have eyes to see, let them see,” Rohee said at the party’s weekly press briefing, when asked which group he was referring to.
He voiced concern at the situation and added that the PPP wishes to remind the Diplomatic Community of its position that the hiring of Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) staff in general, and for elections day, in particular, lacks transparency.
“Clearly, staffers at Gecom are not hired on the basis of merit. Moreover, it appears from the composition of the staff 95% of persons of one race are the ones who would usually pass the tests set by Gecom,” Rohee charged.
The PPP had previously voiced its concern to Gecom over the ethnicity of polling day staff, prompting Gecom Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally to declare last year that “we have a procedure we have a process. We do not employ Afro-Guyanese and we do not employ Indo-Guyanese, we employ Guyanese. That’s it.”
He also said that should there be moves made to ensure through quotas that there is a stringent ethnic balance of employment, it would have to be done under a different Gecom chairman.
Responding to questions on his claim on Monday, Rohee insisted that “reality shows” that the composition of the Gecom staff does not reflect the ethnic composition of society.
“We cannot understand how when Gecom setting its exams that one set of people are failing and another set are passing. We cannot understand that. How are these exams being set in such a way that only one set of people will pass… because it is on the basis of how you perform on those exams that you are employed,” he said.
Asked if the ethnic make-up had been a concern for the party over the years, Rohee responded in the affirmative and said that the party has always been pointing it out but to no avail. “Had the PPP done something [while in government], that people feel we should have done, we would have been attacked and criticised for interfering in the employment practices of Gecom,” he added.
When asked if the party has done an analysis of the persons sitting the exam, Rohee said that Gecom has refused to provide the information. He recalled that he attempted to do so previously and was criticised.
Asked again how he knows that 95% of one ethnic group make up the Gecom staff, he reiterated “who have eyes to see let them use them to see.”
Pressed for a more precise answer he said “we all live in this country. We are not stupid people”. He later said that one of its members that sits on the commission had reported his observations to the party, which speaks to the claim that he made.
Rohee stated that elections observers are advised to keep a close watch on the process where “alpha splits” would be used to determine the numbers of polling stations to be used and the number of electors that will be allowed to vote at those polling stations.
The party, he said has also raised its concerns and reservations with respect to voting by the disciplined forces, which from all indications, “is infested with a host of complications which Gecom refuses to recognise and accept notwithstanding persistent representations made by the PPP.”
He added that the party maintains its disappointment over the fact that the disciplined forces voters’ lists have not been made public nor handed to the political parties to date for scrutiny and particularly in light of the fact that voting by members of the disciplined forces is a mere 30 days away.
