The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has welcomed the appointment of Justice Claudette Singh as the new chairperson of the Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) and has called on the political forces to tone down the political pressure and allow GECOM to do its work.
“GECOM should not be the arena for settling political scores. Compromise and consensus should drive the deliberations and decision-making. Guyana can ill-afford a dysfunctional elections body at a time when the stakes are very high,” the party said in a statement yesterday.
The government announced on Friday that Justice Singh was selected as the new Chairperson of GECOM. She is to be sworn in today.
The WPA observed that Justice Singh’s first task has to do with the contentious issue of what to do with the voters’ list as she takes up office amid a fierce debate over the house-to-house registration which was ordered by her predecessor. “There would obviously be enormous pressure on her to discontinue that exercise. But she must withstand those pressures,” the WPA said, while adding that it hopes her decisions would be guided by the CCJ’s suggestion of “marrying principle with practicality.”
The statement said it is clear that Justice Singh’s tenure as GECOM chair would not be an easy one. “With no known affiliation, she begins her job with some needed capital. She will be overseeing an election which from all indications would be keenly fought. WPA hopes that in the final analysis, her stewardship would take the commission further along the road of impartiality. Because she holds the casting vote in an institution that reflects the political divide, she has the dual role of leader and mediator,” the statement said.
Meantime, the party said that the consensual process through which President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo arrived at the decision is an indication that Guyanese are capable of solving their problems on their own and this needs to become the rule rather than the exception.
“WPA is not blind to the fact that given the underlying distrust between the two major political forces, consensus is not automatic. But we believe that more could be done in this area if the leaders recognise the enormous responsibilities that are placed on their shoulders. We hope that this decision is a signal that hyper-partisanship is giving way to political maturity. There are more challenges to navigate as the country moves towards the most important election since 1953,” the party said.
It also chided sections of the “civil society elite” and the media for “encouraging the Opposition Leader to ignore the recommendation of the CCJ and to insist on unilateralism over cooperation.” The WPA said that this stance was unhelpful and may have been partly responsible for the gridlock over the last few weeks. “WPA respects the right of all organisations to speak up on national political issues but thinks that civil society organisations and individuals should also serve as mediators. The display of partisanship and their stance against cooperation and consensus were not their most shining moments,” the statement said.
