Following a request for a meeting, GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh yesterday said she had advised the opposition APNU+AFC that they should engage with the entire commission rather than have a caucus with her alone.
Singh made the disclosure in a statement following a press release yesterday by the three APNU+AFC-appointed GECOM Commissioners which said that they had withdrawn from a meeting of the Commission yesterday over the Chair’s refusal to meet APNU+AFC.
The three commissioners, Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman said in the release “The APNU-AFC is a major stakeholder and as such we consider it discourteous, at least, for her (Singh) not to have entertained their presence. The current environment in the Commission is not (conducive) for a briefing of the sort sought”, the three said.
They further noted that GECOM is on the verge of major decision-making with regards to voter registration, “a matter that was litigated and requires serious and in-depth consideration before a decision is made. In that regard, at least, a briefing of any major stakeholder should be useful, if not essential. The aforementioned Commissioners therefore withdrew from further participation at today`s meeting to provide the Chairperson with an opportunity to review her decision and to themselves review what seems to be new procedures that are creeping into the conduct of the affairs of GECOM”, the trio said.
Singh subsequently issued a response to the three commissioners.
She said that General Secretary of the PNCR Amna Ally wrote to her on 7th January, 2021 requesting to “engage you singularly as the Chairperson of the Commission to proffer our proposals of the matters at hand before participating in the Commission’s meeting”.
Singh said that in her response dated 7th January, 2021, she extended an invitation for the team to meet with the entire Commission at 1400hrs on 12th January, 2021.
“In a separate communication on the same day, I also requested that any issues likely to be raised are matters to be addressed by the Commission and recommended that proposals should be forwarded in writing so that they may be dispatched to the Commissioners for their perusal and consideration prior to the meeting”, the GECOM Chair said.
She added that on the 11th January, 2021, in her response Ally restated her request to meet with Singh alone to discuss “matters in relation to registration”. She said Ally further stated that “It is public knowledge that you have facilitated meetings with other stakeholders both foreign and domestic without major formalities….”. She said that Ally opined that a meeting with the full Commission could be held subsequent to a meeting with the PNCR.
“I further advised Ms. Ally on the 12th January, 2021, prior to the meeting of the Commission, of my insistence that the team meet with the `full Commission as is customary when meeting with Political Parties’. I explained that `this methodology has been quite useful in ensuring all Commissioners collectively benefit from the issues to be addressed for later deliberation and decision.’
Singh said that the claim made by Commissioners Alexander, Corbin and Trotman that she refused to meet because such a meeting is unprecedented is “grossly misleading at the very least”.
She added “As Chairperson of GECOM, I have never engaged with any political party on my own. Proposals made by stakeholders are always welcomed and being heard by the full Commission allows for a more meaningful engagement at that level. In any event, as Chairperson, I reiterate that it is appropriate to engage political parties at the level of the Commission so that their concerns may be discussed, and where necessary, action taken. It is for these very reasons that I extended an invitation to Ms. Ally to meet with the entire Commission as I would to any other political party expressing a desire to meet with me singularly”.
