Civil society group, Article 13 on Saturday called for the extension of consultations for proposed electoral reforms and warned that key areas had been neglected in the draft changes presented by the government.
“Article 13 calls on the Government to immediately extend the period of consultation which ends on December 17, and to engage in meaningful consultation with the people of the country. The laid down procedure lacks transparency, shuts out large segments of the population and fails to address the fundamental issues affecting elections in Guyana since Independence fifty-five years ago”, a statement on Saturday from the group said.
Describing the draft amendments as “form over substance”, Article 13 noted that several of the amendments introduce stiff penalties, including a ten million dollars fine and lifetime imprisonment for certain conduct by elections officials.
“Article 13 shares the concerns expressed by commentators that the proposed amendments are inadequate and unsatisfactory, and fail to address some of the more fundamental problems associated with elections. We are concerned too that if these proposals make their way into the law, they can have a chilling effect on the willingness of citizens to serve for a paltry sum as clerks on election day”, the group said.
Formed this year to push for better governance, accountability and the inclusion of the citizenry in making decisions for national development, Article 13 said that reform must begin with an analysis of the problem.
Part of that problem it said was the Carter-Price model of an Elections Commission made up of competing politicians. This model which it noted was intended as a temporary measure for the 1992 Elections has installed Commissioners “claiming lifetime tenure and seemingly committed to doing everything but their constitutional duty. This arrangement has to be changed by a constitutional amendment and replaced by independent Commissioners appointed by a Constitutional Commission for a limited period of no more than two elections cycles”, the group said.
It added that the amendments proposed by the government also did not tackle the sore point of the List of Electors.
“The question of who may and may not vote in elections is a problem which we can no longer avoid. In this regard, the possibility of dual citizens-Guyanese being allowed to participate as candidates in elections should be examined”, it argued.
Article 13 also contended that the proposed amendments do nothing to address the fact that the Chief Election Officer is also the Head of National Registration – a concentration of power and functions which is unacceptable.
“Any reform ought to make elections more democratic by facilitating voting by qualified electors. Article 13 strongly advocates for the re-introduction of Independents in the National Assembly and the removal of the statutory requirement that participation in national elections is restricted to
parties contesting in six of the ten Polling Districts (Regions) representing at least thirteen parliamentary seats”, the group said.
As it relates to campaign financing, Article 13 charged that GECOM and the political parties continue to defy the Representation of the People Act on the grounds that the amount permitted is grossly inadequate.
“Yet, there is no proposal for increasing that limit or to prevent elections becoming hostage to foreign interests and private capital. Nor do the proposed amendments deal with the abuse of state resources by the party in Government and egregiously, the shutting out of opposition parties from the state media”, Article 13 lamented.
The government’s proposed amendments focus heavily on addressing administrative issues that occurred during the March 2020 polls. Additionally, it introduced hefty fines and serious prison time for elections-related offences.
One of the major changes it proposes is the division of Region Four, the country’s largest electoral district, into four sub-districts – East Bank Demerara, East Coast Demerara, North Georgetown and South Georgetown – effectively adding a new section to Section 6 of RoPA, which deals with polling districts and divisions.
