The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday claimed that Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Dr. Steve Surujbally may soon demit office.
When contacted, Gecom spokesperson Tamara Rodney told Stabroek News that the chairman “is still there [and] he cannot demit office until there is a new Chairman.”
PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee told reporters yesterday, at the PPP’s weekly press conference, that it seems as though the party’s protests for Surujbally to go have paid off.
The PPP has protested the outcome of the May, 2015 general elections, which it lost by a narrow margin, and has accused Gecom of helping to rig the results. It has since challenged the outcome of the polls by way of an elections petition which seeks, among other things, a recount of the votes or fresh polls.
Rohee said that he had previously noted that the picketing exercises would continue until “our goals are achieved” and added that “from all indications, one has been achieved.”
He said at the press conference that the party would continue to picket until the petitions are heard.
Rohee told reporters too that he also learned that Surujbally and Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield are on leave but would still be at the office almost daily.
“Surujbally is on leave, pending the conclusion of his tenure which we believe would be in November. Lowenfield is on his annual vacation leave and is hoping that his contract, which would expire in March 2017, would be renewed,” Rohee added.
The PPP’s position is that “the contract ought not to be renewed and that given the current investigation and auditing that is taking place at Gecom, he should not return to office while the investigation is ongoing.”
He said too that it is strange that no public pronouncement has been made with regards to Surujbally demitting office.
Rodney confirmed that both men are on leave. She promised to speak to Surujbally, who was present at Gecom at the time, regarding him demitting office and asked this newspaper to call back but when this newspaper did, she still could not confirm.
Rohee said too that Gecom has to follow the Carter Center formula for a new chairman to be identified and said “that can take some time.”
He also said that, “All of that has to be looked at in the context of the timeframe for general and regional elections or local government elections that would be held in 2019 and 2020, respectively. As such, the time factor is of great consideration.”
He also claimed that while the investigations of the last elections are going on, “files have gone missing and there are a number of other developments and revelations” that are likely to be highlighted in the public domain.
Meanwhile, Rohee yesterday voiced concern that Ronald ‘Andy’ Jacobs, who served as Chief Election Officer prior to the 1992 elections, has been re-employed at Gecom.
He said it sends a dark signal for what may follow because “he was responsible for messing up the voters’ list” of that period.
According to him, because of the irregularities [with the list], elections had to be postponed and the Carter Center had to intervene along with many other stakeholders, to have a new voters’ list prepared.
Jacobs had faced numerous questions in 1990 about the poor state of the voters list which had addresses missing and other major problems.
Asked whether Jacobs had indeed been re-employed, Rodney said she was not aware of that.
Rohee told the press conference too that after receiving the information about Jacobs, he wrote to Lowenfield and copied it to Surujbally.
He said Surujbally, in response, informed him that Lowenfield is on leave and that he has sent the letter to the Deputy Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud.
