The Electoral Reform Group (ERG) says its meeting on May 9th with the Attorney General on its submissions on the proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act (RoPA) fell short on the principles of what is required of an adequate process of social consultation.
ERG’s Coordinator, Dr Desmond Thomas and member Colin Klautky represented the group and met with Attorney General Anil Nandlall and other government officials. The Private Sector Commission was also at the meeting. ERG had submitted comments on the proposed amendments in December 2021.
In a statement on Friday, the ERG said that while it welcomed the opportunity to engage with Government on electoral reform issues “the meeting fell short of what is required of an adequate process of social consultation.”
“In the course of discussion at the meeting, the AG indicated that the Government is committed to electoral reform but that it is dealing only with statutory changes to the Representation of the People Act at this time, specifically excluding changes to the Constitution. He mentioned that constitutional changes would require bipartisan consensus. The ERG maintained that sustainable electoral reform required comprehensive social consensus with effective civil society involvement,” the ERG said in its statement.
The group added that the narrow focus on RoPA amounts to reinforcing a system in dire need of reform instead of fixing it. It further stated that Nandlall’s position takes many critical issues off the table for consideration, including several matters listed in the ERG submission such as possible changes in the total number of constituencies and rank ordering of candidate lists.
“A key sticking point was that, as reflected in the AG’s stance, the Government continues to overlook the obvious, urgent need for restructuring and reform of GECOM. The present GECOM structure is not working adequately to deliver elections that are free from suspicion and readily acceptable to major stakeholders, and thus needs to be reformed to enhance the Commission’s capability and fortify its role in the ongoing process of election system review and reform, as exists in other countries,” ERG opined.
In its December 19 submission to the government, the ERG said that the proposed amendments need to be supported by notation to show how they meet their objective and make election management more secure. The government has repeatedly stated that the proposed amendments are to ensure that there is no recurrence of the events that followed the March 2020 elections.
ERG had submitted that the amendments start from a conceptual basis and are inconsistent with the recommendations provided by various election observer missions. It noted that a review of the comments and recommendations made by the observers shows a consistent pattern of calls for a comprehensive overhaul of Guyana’s electoral system.
The grouping also acknowledged that while the need to improve the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) effectiveness and credibility is evident, the government should not just be focusing on that. It added that electoral fraud is not a new concept in Guyana and dates back decades but solely concentrating on the attempt to derail the 2020 election, is a step in the wrong direction.
“The effort to combat electoral fraud in Guyana requires an in-depth investigation of electoral management and processes…A reform of highest priority that Guyana needs is reform of the composition of GECOM and the way in which it is constituted. GECOM as currently constituted is dysfunctional and prone to deadlock… The proposed amendments fail to address fundamental GECOM reforms needed to improve the institution’s functioning and without which there can be no serious electoral reform,” ERG had submitted.
In its statement on Friday, the ERG said that during its meeting, the AG defended Guyana’s current electoral system arguing that proportional representation guaranteed the democracy of the system. However, the group argues that the position ignores the findings of studies and recommendations in the media for years that indicate that a large proportion of the population has no confidence in Guyana’s electoral system.
“The ERG representatives indicated support for the principle of proportionality but held that this did not negate the urgent need for reform,” he explained.
As part of the proposed amendments, one of the major changes the government 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.
Special treatment
Back in December, the ERG had argued that singling out Region 4 for special treatment is unjustified and provocative adding that it is an affront not to GECOM officials but to the residents of Region 4.
At last week Monday’s meeting, the group said that it held the same view iterating that the separation is not justified given that the problem that occurred in 2020 was caused by a breakdown within GECOM and not by Region Four voters.
“It is therefore not clear how this measure is an improvement of the electoral system. The ERG representatives expressed the view that more careful consideration should be given to the proposal for dividing Region Four (and other regions) into a number of constituencies.
“The ERG remains firm in the view that electoral reform is a vital, necessary step to the strengthening of democratic institutions and processes in Guyana in order to maintain political stability and raise the standard of living of citizens. We remain prepared to contribute to comprehensive social dialogue toward the achievement of such goals,” the group related.
Additionally, the ERG reminded of President Irfaan Ali’s promise of a comprehensive Commission of Inquiry into the crisis following the March 2, 2020 polls noting that such an investigation is a critical step toward diagnosing the causes of problems and will better guide reform proposals.
A statement from the AG’s Chambers following last Monday’s meeting had informed that Nandlall informed the two groups that he would not be dealing with proposals that require constitutional reform.
The draft amendments are a result of the debacle at the March 2nd 2020 general and regional elections which lasted exactly five months between balloting and the declaration of the final results. That was due to a series of twists and turns including several court challenges, reaching the highest Appellate Court – the Caribbean Court of Justice, to declare unverified results and a national recount of all ballots.
As a consequence of the events of the March 2020 elections, several former GECOM officials, including its Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers, and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, and political party officials were charged with election-related offences.
The government, through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, released the draft amendment on November 5, 2021, and set a six-week period for review, comment and propose additional amendments. That process ended mid-December with no announcement of an extension but Minister Gail Teixeira had related that the process remains open.
