President David Granger has urged the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to begin preparations for general and regional elections and has said government will initiate measures to make the required funding available.
In a February 25th letter to GECOM Chairman James Patterson, seen by Stabroek News, President Granger indicated that “the Government of Guyana is committed to doing everything possible to ensure that the commission is provided with the financial resources and has sufficient time to conduct credible elections.”
He added, “I urge the commission, therefore, to commence preparations for the conduct of [General and Regional Elections].”
As part of these efforts, Granger has promised “to seek the approval of the National Assembly to ensure that an agreement can be reached given both the constitutional requirement and GECOM’s capability.”
A second letter by Presi-dent Granger to Patterson, also dated February 25th, was released by the Ministry of the Presidency last evening and in it he seeks to initiate consultations on the readiness of GECOM for the conduct of general and regional elections in 2019. He noted that GECOM, as a constitutional agency, would require a new appropriation of funds approved by the National Assembly for the conduct of the polls.
The letters were in response to a letter to the president from Patterson which indicated that GECOM could not deliver credible polls within a three-month time-frame from December 21, 2018—when a no confidence motion against the government was declared carried in the National Assembly—and that additional funds need to be provided.
By majority decisions that saw Patterson use his casting vote, GECOM last week determined that it would advise the President that the three-month constitutional deadline for the holding of polls could not be met and that its current budgetary appropriations could not be used for preparations.
The decisions were based on advice received from the Ministry of Finance, which noted that the approved annual budget of a constitutional agency, such as GECOM, shall not be altered without the approval of the National Assembly.
While GECOM says it is unable to meet the deadline, the constitution allows for an extension of the date for the holding of elections upon the approval of two-thirds of the 65 elected members of the National Assembly. As a result, government and the opposition would have to agree on an extension.
Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj yesterday welcomed the President’s letter, while noting that it “speaks for itself.”
“It addresses a major stumbling block presented by the Secretariat, that is, funding, and in fact sets out the mechanism for resolution of that issue,” he said, while stressing that the letter also “encourages GECOM to start planning for the conduct of general and regional elections, the identical position that I have been advocating since we first met in January of this year.”
“I hope this is sufficient to have the process expedited and the continued breach of the constitutional prescriptions by GECOM can cease by the holding of elections, as mandated,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, although government-nominated Commissioners Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman both acknowledged the existence of the letter, they indicated that no decisions have yet been made.
“It [the letter] was received casually by the commission,” Alexander noted, before acknowledging that while the President has committed to securing funds for GECOM he has provided no timeframe.
The commission, however, has decided to meet again on Thursday to decide on its 2019 work programme.
Trotman explained that the GECOM Secretariat, led by the Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO) in the absence of CEO Keith Lowenfield (on medical leave), presented several timelines for approval. However, since the information was received by some commissioners as late as Monday evening, a decision was taken to meet again tomorrow, at which point they’ll be better able to respond to the information.
He noted that the work programmes presented included a timeline for house-to-house registration and other activities which the Secretariat is contemplating.
Stabroek News understands that these other activities include a July, 2019 election, following a period of claims and objections to refresh the voters’ list, which will expire on April 30th.
