Declaring that “time is of the essence,” and that “the constitutional clock is ticking,” the Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) has issued a call for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to expeditiously enable an accurate and transparent declaration of results from the March 2nd elections.
Describing the Commission’s attitude to the current electoral impasse as “laissez faire” and “disgraceful and inexcusable” the Council yesterday noted that Article 69 of the Constitution mandates that on dissolution, the next session of Parliament must commence no later than four months from the end of the preceding session.
With the last session of Parliament being dissolved on December 30th last year, the Council has noted that the next session of Parliament must therefore begin in another 13 days—no later than April 30th.
In a press statement yesterday, the Bar Council said effect can only be given to the constitutional provisions by the constitutionally mandated timeline if GECOM and its Secretariat act immediately in a manner which demonstrates transparency, impartiality and fairness.
Reminding that the Constitution is the supreme law to which all persons and bodies are subject, and that “time is of the essence,” the Council said that timelines laid down by the constitution are not merely matters of principle which one can simply choose to abide by or ignore.
As a matter of fact, it is contending that the failure to abide by the constitution has far reaching consequences, both nationally and internationally for good governance and the rule of law, among other things.
Observing that it is close to one year now since the last sitting of Parliament on May 23rd, 2019 prior to the dissolution of Parliament on December 30th, 2019, the Council said that such a record is not one for which any country would wish to be known.
Reminding that Guyana is a parliamentary democracy based on the rule of law, the Council opined that the absence of parliamentary oversight of those who purport to exercise executive powers, whether de facto or de jure, is of grave concern “as it places the rule of law under siege.”
The Council expressed concern at what it says appears to be a “laissez faire” approach taken by GECOM and its Secretariat. The absence of a declared election result some six weeks after the general and regional elections, in addition to being outside of the statutory prescribed period, is “disgraceful and inexcusable,” it argued.
Noting that legal challenges connected to the elections controversy had been dealt with dispatch as counsel for all parties adhered to timelines and both the High and Appeal Courts sat on Sundays to ensure the timely determination of the matters, the Council said that despite the reported decision of GECOM over a week ago to effect a recount of the votes cast in all ten districts, that process is yet to begin as it continues to grapple with mundane decisions “while precious time continues to be lost.”
The Council said that the integrity of any system is as good as the integrity of the persons who operate the system.
According to the Bar Council, “the recent open disregard for truth and decency by certain members of the GECOM Secretariat leaves a feeling of great distaste in the mouths of ordinary Guyanese who have been subjected to scorn, disdain and ridicule by the rest of the world even as we struggle to come to terms with the COVID-19 disaster.” It added that “more will be said later about the continued relevance or function of GECOM when this chaos is over.”
‘Constitutional abyss’
The Council said a mere 14 days are left before Guyana delves further into what it described as “the constitutional abyss,” to which it said the country was pushed by GECOM when it failed to hold general and regional elections within the constitutionally mandated period on the valid passing of a motion of No-Confidence on December 21st, 2018 against the APNU+AFC government.
The Bar Council is urging GECOM and its Secretariat to put aside the imbroglio of the last six weeks by ending the impasse over results with a declaration that permits the Constitution to be honoured and provides the people of Guyana with a freely and fairly elected Government.
About two weeks ago, GECOM voted to recount all votes cast in the elections beginning chronologically with Electoral District One. Guyana has 10 Electoral Districts. The Commission is yet to bring finality to the modalities to facilitate the recount.
As of yesterday, however, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj told the media that the Commission’s Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh is expected today to communicate the Commission’s
decision on the way forward with the recount.
Late last week Wednesday, Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the Commission, Keith Lowenfield had announced a proposal for the recount process to take 156 days—some five months. This proposal was strongly rejected by opposition commissioners, while the Secretariat has defended the plan.
Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran, who is the Presidential Candidate of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), one of the parties which contested the March 2nd polls has, however, dismissed Lowenfield’s proposition as being “absurd.”
Ramkarran, in his weekly Conversation Tree column that was republished by this newspaper on Sunday, said that “the daring absurdity of the 156-day plan for the recounting of the ballots of the March 2 elections begs the question of what exactly goes on at meetings of the Elections Commission.”
Ramkarran said it was deeply baffling that the Commissioner who made the proposal would not have been told that his proposal would result in a counting time of 156 days. He said that it is a mystery why the Chair of the Commission was not consulted with what he said was “the preposterous consequences” of the proposal before a formal meeting.
The Senior Counsel said that the CEO has official post-election functions relating to the selection of Members of Parliament and would be aware of article 69(1) of the Constitution, which provides that Parliament must meet within four months after its dissolution.
The attorney said it is not known whether this fact was within Lowenfield’s contemplation when he worked up his 156-day plan, nor is it known either, that if it was as it should have been, that the CEO reported it to the Chair and/or the Commission, officially or unofficially.
Both President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had agreed to a full recount and following a request to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley had put together what she described as an independent high-level CARICOM team, which traveled to Guyana to supervise the recount. This was, however, aborted after a government candidate challenged the recount.
