Saying that Guyana’s leaders “must encourage healing and reconciliation,” the Carter Center has urged reforms to the constitution and the election laws to ensure “more inclusivity and accountability” in the country’s system of governance.
Among its recommendations is that government re-evaluate the electoral system to consider measures, such as allowing independent candidates and ensuring constituency seats are reflective of a voting district’s population, which it says would promote support across ethnic lines and better reflect international standards.
In its final report on Guyana’s May 11, 2015 general elections, which was released on Wednesday, the Center said overall the elections represent a step forward in Guyana’s democratic development, but there is much work to be done to ensure governance is inclusive and elections become more routine and less traumatic to the nation.
It noted that 72% of Guyanese voted at the elections, which is more than in any other in the country’s elections history. It was also the closest elections, with the APNU+AFC coalition winning by 4,506 votes over the PPP/C.
Although the Center said the coalition’s win may signal a future of coalition politics in a country that has “struggled with the zero-sum nature of its winner-take-all system,” it noted that many familiar patterns of past elections were repeated. Against this background, it reiterated that the winner-take-all system of government does not serve the country’s interests in light of its demographic make-up and the historical ethnic voting. “This exclusionary governance system fuels ethnic insecurity and is a factor in Guyana’s long-running ethnic conflict. While this dynamic has changed somewhat since the Herdmanston reforms and the rise of a successful third political party in 2005, this does not obviate the need for further constitutional reforms,” it said.
As a result, it welcomed the APNU+AFC coalition’s campaign pledge to mount fundamental constitutional reform to achieve more inclusive governance and power sharing and urged that the coalition live up to its promise. Similarly, the Center also urged the PPP/C to engage fully in what it said should be an open process, inclusive of all stakeholders. “The urgency of this challenge is made greater with the anticipated influx of oil revenue, which has the potential to exacerbate ethnic and political conflicts,” it said in a statement that accompanied the release of the report on Wednesday.
Independent candidates
In recommending that the government re-evaluate the electoral system, the Center pointed out that the present list system allows political parties to allocate seats to members of their choice after the election, meaning that the voter casts his/her ballot for the party, not candidates. It also pointed out that there is no requirement that political parties must allocate seats in the National Assembly to any of the female candidates from within their lists and recommended that Guyana should consider adjustments to its legal framework and electoral system to equalize representation of women in Parliament. The Center said the legal framework is deficient as it relates to the rights of women and men to participate equally in democratic governance and democratic processes. It pointed out that the Representation of the People Act requires that political parties nominate at least one-third women in their lists of candidates, but there is no legal requirement that any female be selected for membership of the National Assembly, despite the fact that women slightly outnumber men in Guyana. The absence of a mandatory quota for women candidates, it added, is a cause for concern.
Among the recommended changes to the system is allowing individual candidates to stand for President and the Center noted that international obligations on the right of people to stand for election allow for independent candidates. “The constitutional rules in Guyana limit all candidature for the office of the presidency and for membership of the National Assembly to those who join party lists. This is an unreasonable limitation on the freedom of association and on the right to run for election,” it said in a recommendation to the Parliament, while noting that an amendment to the constitution is necessary to effect this change, and this should be considered as a matter of some urgency in order to allow independent candidates to participate in elections.
Additionally, in light of the country’s history of ethnic polarization, the Center said Guyana might want to consider “preferred, or ranked, voting for president,” in which voters award votes ranked on an ordinal scale to all candidates in the race, and the winner is the candidate who wins the most total votes.
“This places an incentive on candidates to appeal to voters across party and communal lines,” it explained.
The Center also urged that the Parliament work to ensure geographical constituency seats are more equitably distributed among voters. It said to protect the right of equal suffrage and the principle of “one person, one vote,” the delimitation of boundaries should ensure relatively equal distribution of electors per district, with limited variance not to exceed 15 percent. “Currently, the magnitude of the geographic constituencies for the 25 “regional seats” in the Parliament varies significantly, negatively influencing the equality of suffrage. Apportionment of the seats to the regions should be based on the latest available population statistics to allow for representation that would protect the obligation of equal suffrage,” it argued.
The Center recommended as well that the Parliament create a law for the registration and operation of political parties. “Regulation regarding the registration of political parties should encourage broad-based parties, ensure equitable treatment, provide reasonable and objective grounds for rejecting the registration of a political party, and overall support the freedom of association,” it urged. Further, registration criteria that promote broad-based parties, it said, could seek to move political parties in Guyana beyond ethnic orientation, thereby promoting inclusivity and harmony by denying registration to parties that discriminate on ethnic, geographic, or other grounds.
Disclosure of campaign funding
Also among the major recommendations for the Parliament in the Center’s report is the overhauling and modernization of campaign finance laws as it found that the country’s legal framework is particularly weak and contributes to inequalities between political parties. The legal framework puts in place ceilings for election expenditures and a simple requirement that declarations of electoral expenses must be submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) after the elections.
It noted that in the 2015 elections, political parties and candidates were bound by spending limits laid down in the 1964 Representation of the People Act. The law limits spending by a candidate to GY $25,000 (US$120) and by parties to an additional GY$50,000 US$240) per candidate.
While each of the main parties seemed able to command significant resources for their campaigns, the report pointed out that there appeared to be a weak distinction between the resources of the then ruling PPP/C and that of the state. It also said that the absence of public funding for political parties impaired the ability of smaller parties to compete.
As a result, it concluded that the gaps in the law on campaign finance create an uneven playing field. “Legislation should be strengthened to routinely require disclosure of contributions and expenditures. Consideration also should be given to establishing reasonable limits on donations and expenditures to ensure that the free choice of voters is not undermined or the democratic process distorted by disproportionate expenditures on behalf of any candidate or party,” the Center said.
It argued that amendment of the legislation is necessary to establish a more comprehensive regulatory framework for parties and candidates, requiring the “disclosure of sources of finance (not just in the context of elections) and also establishing a ceiling on donations.” It said too that revised legislation should also provide for the regular submission and review of campaign finance reports. “Powers should be conferred on an independent body to monitor campaign finance, possibly either Gecom (with additional staff and training) or the establishment of a new independent regulatory body. The body responsible for monitoring of campaign finance should have powers of enforcement and sanction,” it also urged.
Also listed among the Center’s recommendations to the Parliament are a raft of reforms to ensure “effective and timely” remedies in electoral dispute resolution. It said the suggested improvements could help bridge the gap between Guyanese law and the country’s international obligations in this area.
The suggestions include making provisions for legal complaints to be filed prior to elections; reasonable time limits are in place to ensure the adjudication of any election complaints and petitions; and clarifying the laws pertaining to recounts.
The Center also recommended that the government consolidate electoral laws, as currently regulations related to the administration of elections are fragmented across numerous pieces of legislation, orders, regulations, and judicial decisions; and that it continue to strengthen the professionalism and independence of Gecom.
Among the recommendations to Gecom was opening its meetings to observers, to promote the transparent administration of elections and facilitate public understanding of commission deliberations and decisions; and strengthening the process for the counting, tabulation, and transmission of results to increase the transparency and timeliness of the process.
