Dear Editor,
In my soul, when I witnessed the inauguration of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali in August 2020, I knew that the season would come when I would have to restart writing. I saw a letter to the press on October 31, 2024, crafted by three of GECOM’s Commissioners (Alexander, Trotman, and Corbin.) I want to remind these gentlemen, too many Guyanese are painfully aware of the trauma and anguish that our people endured over those five months in 2020 under their watch, as vigorous attempts were made to destroy our democratic credentials as a country during the Region 4 tabulation process, and in the end deny the will of the electorate. I was there, in the front seats at the Ashmins Building and Kingston, observing every move they made and documented and highlighted their several acts of transgression. Therefore, when I speak on this matter, it is not hearsay; it is backed with the necessary evidential authority.
At this point, no better candidate than Vishnu Persaud is available to conduct the role of CEO of GECOM. He has the history, competence experience, and qualifications (Vishnu has a postgraduate qualification in elections management) and he is an independent thinker. There is one other person, if Vishnu Persaud is not available, who can do this job; Lawrence Latchmansingh. I cannot find any other soul at this time, other than these two competent and qualified gentlemen in 2024, who can do the job required of a CEO of GECOM, without bringing disrepute to the office. By and large, most of our people are partial to a team and that is their right. But these two gentlemen have proven over the years that they love the art of elections management, they are independent thinkers, they do not take political instructions from any side, they are highly qualified, and they adhere to a professional code of ethics that is embedded to good governance and fairness in the conduct of elections processes. Let the professionals do their work and the politicos from all sides need to give them the space to function.
For the record, I was advised that senior officers like Melanie Marshall, Sheffern February, Denise Bobb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller are still serving in GECOM today after their antics of 2020. So what capture are these gentlemen talking about as they engage in an adventure that is populated with delusions of grandeur with a splash of racial overtones. That is a dangerous practice associated with a bygone era. Wrong room Messrs. Alexander, Trotman and Corbin? Team “GEN Z” have no space for your outdated thought set at this time. Maybe the time has come for these gentlemen to upgrade their narrative, reboot their engines with 2024 standards, and seek to ensure that every single Guyanese on the voter’s list gets a chance to vote rather than seeking to pull down, destroy, distort, and insert subterfuge and deception into a system that needs the support from all of us to push through another electoral season? May the Gods be with the GECOM professionals; the next 12 months will not be easy.
Sincerely,
Sasenarine Singh
