Though the Alliance for Change (AFC) believes that a reform of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) is necessary, it has not yet begun to advocate for it at the level of the governing coalition and is choosing instead to push for constitutional reform and a restructuring of the legislation governing campaign financing.
“We’ve been on record that the present structure of Gecom was a temporary arrangement for the 1992 elections, which has become permanent and needs to be reformed. We would like to see the functions of Gecom become similar to the Jamaican model. Their electoral body doesn’t just deal with national elections but elections all round so if the Guyana Football Club (GFC) has elections they are called because they have a well-respected model,” General Secretary of the AFC David Patterson told reporters yesterday.
However, he added that this is not one of the topics that have arisen so far at the level of the APNU+AFC coalition, as the party does not wish “to overcrowd the agenda.”
“We don’t move anything to displace our priority which is constitutional reform. We have big long lists of items to discuss. It’s getting longer every day. There are things we are mandated by our membership to address and constitutional reform and campaign financing are high on the agenda. We will get to Gecom reform,” he said.
To this end, the 2017 Budget will include funding for public consultations on constitutional reform.
Patterson explained that constitutional reform is under the immediate domain of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who has tabled a route forward to Cabinet. Nagamootoo’s proposal has not yet been discussed as he is overseas, but Patterson said it is not on the back burner and progress in the constitutional reform process is imminent.
On the matter of Gecom reform, the AFC has long called for the entity to be depoliticised.
The commission aspect of Gecom currently comprises three members nominated by the government and three by the opposition and a chairman appointed by the President from a list of names submitted to him by the opposition. The AFC has called for a reduction in the number of political appointees to approximately one third of the commission with the other members being drawn from civil society.
This suggestion aligns with the recommendation of several election observer missions, including those from the Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which have called for non-political commissioners to be appointed.
Patterson further noted that several legislative bodies are being engaged on the matter of campaign financing. The coalition has promised to enact campaign financing legislation so that there may be greater transparency on how political parties are funded.
