The opposition PPP/C-nominated members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have declared that the Elections Commission Secretariat must immediately begin preparing for general elections in accordance with Friday’s ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
“Any official of GECOM who does anything inconsistent with the CCJ’s orders would be in gross contempt of the said orders and the Constitution and would thereby attract the appropriate sanctions,” Com-missioners Bibi Shadick, Sase Gunraj and Robeson Benn said in a joint statement last evening.
Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield was specifically been identified and called upon to ensure these preparations “in accordance with his statutory functions.”
On Friday, the CCJ declared that upon the passage of the motion of no-confidence against the government last December, the clear provisions Article 106 immediately become engaged.
The Constitution outlines in Article 106(6) and (7) that the Cabinet, including the President, shall resign if the government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence and an election should be held within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly.
In delivering its judgment, the CCJ noted that GECOM “has the responsibility to conduct that election and GECOM too must abide by the provisions of the Constitution.”
GECOM is currently without a Chairperson after the CCJ found that President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of the most recent Chairman, retired judge James Patterson, was in breach of the Constitution. He and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo have since made an unsuccessful attempt to agree to potential candidates for the post.
