Dear Editor,
It has become a habit of some to treat the PPP and the PNCR, and their respective associates as two peas in a pod. One such instance is Jonathan Subrian`s letter of July 10, in the Stabroek News` letters to the Editor, in which he stated: “why are the GECOM Commissioners three appointed by the government and three by the opposition …, all paid with Guyanese tax dollars, silent on this seemingly, egregious and contemptuous act of Asha Kissoon?”, namely her refusal to vacate a seat in the National Assembly after her term expired.
May I therefore hasten to say that the opposition-appointed commissioners have been prosecuting this matter vociferously and even boisterously, in GECOM, to the annoyance, resistance and defiance of the Chairperson and the other three commissioners, who for all intents and purposes comprise a block that slavishly pursues the PPP/C agenda at GECOM rather than its constitutional mandate. I will elucidate their treatment of the Asha Kissoon matter as an example of my contention; the three opposition-appointed commissioners` prosecution of this matter; and the three government appointed commissioners` and the chairperson`s contempt for the constitution and the rule of law, in deference to partisan PPP/C interest.
When Asha Kissoon took up the seat in the National Assembly, it was apparent that the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chief Election Officer of GECOM acted in good faith based on the documents presented to them, at the time. In hindsight, it may be concluded that that was not the case and that the current situation could have been avoided if the Chief Election Officer had done the necessary document checks at the time. At that time the documentation to, and from, the Speaker, and the oral presentation of Kissoon, to the Chief Election Officer, identified Kenrick Morgan as the replacement for Gerald Forde as The New Movement`s representative of the list. Thus, under the signatures of the ostensible representatives of the lists of the joinder parties, Kissoon was sworn in as a member of the National Assembly for a period predetermined by the agreement among the joinder parties. However, when that period expired Kissoon continued to occupy the seat to the public consternation of the other joinder parties, ANUG and LJP, and the public at large
This development led to Forde, the original representative of the TNM`s list, enquiring of GECOM about Kissoon`s illicit retention of the seat and his status in relation to his appointment as the representative of the TNM list. Apart from illicitly retaining the seat, Kissoon wrote to GECOM on March 24, 2024 purporting to have communicated with GECOM on November, 2020 that Forde was no longer the TNM representative of the list. However, according to GECOM`s Chief Election Officer, no such document is currently in GECOM`s possession. But GECOM, from January of this year to the present time has found every reason not to respond to Forde`s question about his status. They have contended that the Speaker`s letter cited Morgan as the representative and that GECOM has no involvement beyond responding to the Speaker`s letter. They have also employed Maximum Administrative Delay in responding, even after they were persuaded by the three opposition-appointed commissioners of GECOM`s obligation to advise Forde that GECOM`s records do not reflect any change of his status.
More disconcerting is the fact that the documentation submitted by Kissoon in 2024, under the pretext that those documents had been submitted in 2022, ostensibly replacing Forde, do not meet the legal requirements to effect the replacement. The Representation of the People Act, chap I: 03, section 98 of the Laws of Guyana clearly states that: “When seats have, in pursuance of section 97, been allocated to any list of candidates-
(a) The representative of the list; of
(b) If the representative is unwilling or unable … so to do, the deputy representative of such list; or
(c) In case of any such unwillingness or inability on the part of the deputy representative, a majority of the persons named in that list may designate in writing any such person able and willing …so to do.” It is exactly the last provision that Kissoon sought to invoke when in her letter, she contended that Forde had been replaced, however her letter only bore eight signatories, when at least twenty-two person should have signed, as provided for in section 11 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, chap 1.03 of the Laws of Guyana.”
GECOM is therefore in no position but to indicate to Forde that it has no basis, in any circumstance, but to continue to recognize him as the authentic representative of the list, yet the Legal Officer requires of the opposition-appointed commissioners to prove the existence of the provision quoted above and cited by Kissoon, while the chair proposes a vote on the matter, and the PPP/C appointed commissioners remain silent and/or contend that the matter is moot as Kissoon continues to occupy an illicit seat and the position of Deputy Speaker at the behest of the PPP/C and in defiance of tradition, which allows the opposition forces to determine who should be the deputy speaker.
Sincerely,
Vincent Alexander
GECOM, Commissioner
