-warns of ongoing disinformation campaign
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is advising voters to be wary of disinformation being peddled about the general elections scheduled to be held later this year and assures that it will deliver a credible elections process.
In a release yesterday, GECOM referred to two letters published in the Kaieteur News on January 7 and 8 and authored by a R. Williams as an example of its concerns. In the first letter captioned, “Partisan Appointments Threaten Electoral Integrity at GECOM,” the writer accused the government-nominated Commissioners and the Chairperson of the Commission, Justice (Rtd) Claudette Singh, of colluding and exhibiting partisan bias in relation to the appointments of key management staff, in particular, the Chief Election Officer, the Deputy Chief Election Officer, the Assistant Chief Election Officer, Logistics Manager, and the Civic and Voter Education Manager. The writer then concluded that given the nature of these appointments, GECOM cannot be trusted for the 2025 elections.
Then in the next letter of January 8, the release noted, the writer reiterated the disinformation narrative that the appointments of key management staff were always supported by the government-nominated Commissioners and the Chairperson. This time, the writer even went further to accuse the GECOM Chairperson of always supporting the position of the Chief Election Officer (CEO) who was a candidate backed by the government- nominated Commissioners.
According to GECOM’s interpretations, it appears the writer’s sole agenda was to narrate “unsubstantiated accusations” with the objective of undermining confidence in the operations of the Commission, and to deter participation in the electoral process. In response, the Commission stated that it is fully aware of an ongoing misinformation and disinformation campaign regarding the upcoming General and Regional Elections, and assured that it will not allow the “propagation of falsehoods” about its structure and work.
The release pointed out that GECOM has previously addressed accusations similar to those raised by Williams several times in the public domain, and therefore finds it necessary to strongly condemn and dismiss those “unfounded accusations that are solely intended to be detrimental,” particularly where it is evident that the intention is to demonstrate that “GECOM has never been able to rise above corruption” and that GECOM will rig the 2025 elections.
The release also sought to shed some light on GECOM’s hiring practices, noting that the process is highly objective and transparent. It explained that vacancies are advertised and all Commissioners are given the opportunity to shortlist suitable candidates from the applications received in accordance with the set criteria. The separate lists submitted by Commissioners are combined and interviews are conducted to determine the best suitable candidate from among those shortlisted for each post. In most cases, different candidates were preferred by the government and opposition-nominated Commissioners thereby resulting in ties. Consequently, leaving it to the Chairman to proffer a conclusive decision.
Given the aforementioned explanation, GECOM thought it prudent also to clarify that although the outcome may not have always met the expectations of some Commissioners, there is no evidence to suggest that the hiring processes led by the current Chairman were not highly objective and transparent. In fact, the Chairman of the Commission has explained on numerous occasions that her decisions are neutral, based on consideration of the applicable criteria and in the best interest of the organisation.
It was also emphasised that the operations of GECOM are effectively managed by a “competent team of professionals” that continues to deliver quality work of a high standard and therefore, for anyone to suggest otherwise is “unscrupulous, mischievous and intentionally trying to tarnish the integrity of those persons and by extension the Commission.”
Concerning the letter writer’s efforts to establish a correlation between the appointments of key staff and a plan to rig the 2025 elections, “strong condemnation” is of utmost importance, as GECOM feels that this level of disinformation can potentially cause harm to key management staff at GECOM and the integrity of Commission.
The release assured all stakeholders that GECOM will deliver “free, fair, transparent and credible” elections and advises that they should guard against persons whose sole intention is to undermine their trust and confidence in the Commission.