Dear Editor,
Guyanese fortunately have political rule by the many. Guyanese, however, are unfortunate by having many rulers of poor quality, with their little amount of capabilities. Some are given big important political jobs and simply can’t perform, some are even placed in front the courts for embezzling funds. Some are puppets to their party leaders. Now, I turn to GECOM in relation to Region 4. If you remember, the comments by the current Attorney General, you will get my drift – Mr. Mingo was acting like he was the “star bhai” in a Hollywood Movie. In your newspaper yesterday May 25, 2021, I noted Mr. Yog Mahadeo’s letter in the letters’ writers Column. It advocates for a renewed Region 4 electoral boundary process which he claims will solve the Region 4 dilemma. He feels that will solve the Region 4 situation and thus make it be better from what obtained at the 2020 elections. I do beg to differ from his viewpoint. My reason is simple.
If one were to try his experiment and facilitate a reorganizing of the boundaries, hoping that the previous situation as experienced in the 2020 Election will be improved, our laws will surely compound the problem, as the electoral boundary readjustment will then cause a slew of other issues to arise, among them, the fact that jobs to fill the keys positions must be vetted by the Chief Elections Officer, as well as others in significant and powerful positions at GECOM. Who is the current C.E.O.? Who is the current Chairman? How did each of these 2 individual perform before the 2020 elections was held, during the period it was actually held, and what of the memorable period post-election day.
GECOM’s choice of these persons, will have to go through several selection options, and whether to hold a public selection process to select a RO, or not and to hire appropriate persons for other key positions for Region 4, or appointing a current RO who resides within the boundaries of what will be the new electoral district(s), will be one that involves political considerations – that seems a feature and a status quo at GECOM for the past 25 years at least. I speak from experience, I was employed and have worked for GECOM in 2 elections, while living in Guyana, both times in Region 3. I saw firsthand the internal politics at play. Here in Canada, I was recruited by the Chief Electoral Officer to augment the Returning Officer in my District, and my job at the next Federal election in October 2023, as well as the 18 others on the team is simply just to be ready when the election is called. We are paid handsomely. We are all neutral persons and hold no partisan inclinations, most of us are professional persons and are academics holding second tier degrees. Some of us even profess having integrity. The powers that be, hiring us, are neutral Canadians bent on serving democracy, nothing else, nothing more, nothing less, most have doctorates and to say the least, are not stupid and fickle people, like the ones we see involved in GECOM’s affairs.
Because I am a lawyer, I have studied the Elections Act of Canada due to curiosity. Here, due to subsection 24(1.4) of the Act, once you do a boundary readjustment of the sort that Mr. Yog Mahadeo proposes, you should consider advertising and vetting for a new Returning Officer, and the several others to complement his or her Team. In the Guyana example, these persons would be residents of Region 4 obviously, and the people involved in their selection are the same ones there from the 2020 election. The solution in my humble view is to have the “troublesome” Region 4 vote at an Advance Poll period (3 days continuous is ideal) and these ballots can then be synchronized similar to the manner the Joint Services ballots are synchronized when elections are held. Thus, on the actual Election Day lesser work is attributed to election workers, in totality, and the results should be available as to which party won, how many seats it got, etc., within a matter of 5-6 hours after Poll closes, so by eleven p.m., election night, the nation already is given the legal results via television and radio. Should the gov’t prefer a faster method, it can choose to use the tabulator method, as some wealthy municipalities use here, and thus, the results are known as to who won the Mayor-ship, which Councilors won which constituency, etc., within half hour after Election stations are closed. And of course, invite Observers to the Region 4 Voting Stations through the country’s Diplomatic Channels.
Sincerely,
M. Shabeer Zafar
Barrister, Solicitor, Notary