THE subject of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its raison d’etre has been written on, ad nauseam, and mentioned in numerous letters published in this newspaper. That this has been so is largely due to the numerous sinister attempts in some well-known political quarters, and by their vested-interest cliques to denude this key constitutional body of its autonomy and independent functions to make it a creature of their anti-national designs.
This constitutional fact is well known to the PPP/C and those with whom it continues to conspire to make obscene demands of the GECOM. It is particularly ridiculous, to put it mildly, and equally asinine for those who do so to continue to make unlawful demands of the nation’s electoral body, such as objecting to the Chief Executive Officer having control of the Statement of Recounts. How much more of this utter nonsense and dangerous charade must GECOM, and the nation, by extension, continue to be subject to? Must one be reminded time and again that the CEO, a constitutional office-holder, must at all times be in charge of the electoral process, until it is satisfactorily completed?
It, therefore, becomes necessary for the constitutional position of the nation’s electoral body to be reiterated, as an important reminder to those who are bent on bringing this important institution into disrepute, by ways which defy any rational explanation, if only because the reasons are only too obviously contrived and devious in their intention and execution.
GECOM is the nation’s electoral organ, in fact and in law, as underlined in the Constitution of Guyana, that is empowered with the important task of being responsible for the administrating of national and regional elections in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
This means that it is wholly responsible for all matters, inclusive of fulsome preparations, that pertain to this most important democratic function of facilitating the expression of the free will of the citizen. Inherent to this undertaking is the all-important key responsibility of ensuring that the balloting exercise is free, fair, and transparent, which must be extended to the equally critically-important ability of declaring results that can withstand scrutiny.
In its execution of the foregoing functions, there has been unconditional support and unyielding insistence, by the Executive especially, that the nation’s electoral body must be undeterred and deliberate in its independence in carrying out those constitutional functions as mandated.
In its executive structure and administrative functions, the GECOM is managed by a Commission, which body is headed by a Chairperson, as catered for by the Constitution. It is the Chairperson who is tasked with finalising all actions as are related to the holding of national and regional polls, which, in turn, are delegated to the Chief Elections Officer, and those of his support team for execution. In fact, the Chief Elections Officer’s functions are integral to the role and function of receiving the final results; the allocation of seats to the various political participating parties in the elections; and ensuring the accuracy of those final results before presenting them to the Chairperson for discussion with the Commission, before their final announcement, which leads to the swearing in of either the incumbent executive for another term of office, or a new government.
The above, as outlined, illustrates not only the uncontested supremacy of the GECOM as being the sole constitutional body tasked with ensuring that national elections are held, but also outlines its fulsome powers, as enunciated not so long ago by a Court of Appeal decision that it is empowered to ensure impartiality in its results. In fact, such a ruling served to remind the nation that the GECOM is the sole constitutional authority that is vested with the power to direct all electoral matters, which includes the recount, as stipulated in its decisions.
It goes without saying, therefore, that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), as in the process of the holding of any or all national and regional elections, is also the constitutionally-delegated officer that is responsible for the currently conducted recount, which includes a forensic audit, as ordered by the GECOM. There cannot, and should not, be any change or deviation from THE CEO’s responsibility, since his constitutional status remains unchanged, as far as his functions are outlined under the Constitution which governs the functioning of the GECOM. For those who respect the powers of the Constitution, the answer has to be very obvious.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_05_08_2020