GECOM Chair’s sketchy details create uncertainty on way forward – Commissioner

Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh was expected to provide at least a date for the commencement of the recount of the March 2, General and Regional Elections on Friday but instead provided scant details and has created more uncertainty “than to chart the course forward, perhaps to conclusion.”

This is according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, who in an invited comment said there are still several outstanding issues for the Chairperson to pronounce on.

Retired Justice Singh in a promised missive to the Commissioners on Friday said she has taken a decision to have the recount done using no more than 10 counting stations, to be housed inside of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
Gunraj said, however, “there were several other issues that required the decision of the Chairman.”

These, he said, include, but are not limited to the number of hours per day during which the recount will proceed; live-streaming of the recount to ensure maximum transparency and the extent of the recount process.
“All of this continues as GECOM seems content to drag this process and by extension, the anguish of the nation, beyond the extent of its patience.”

Following the Commission’s last meeting on Thursday, Gunraj and Government-nominated Commissioners had signalled to the media that the duration and modalities involved in the recount were expected to be decided on by Retired Justice Singh.
They indicated that following that meeting, the Commissioners from both sides of the political divide were able to present a summation of the proposals for the recount.

These include a proposal by PPP’s Gunraj for the recount to be done using 20 workstations in as little as 10 days.
Additionally, Alexander had proposed the use of eight workstations in addition to the original proposal by the Secretariat for the activity to be completed in 156 days.
There were also separate proposals deliberated on over the amount of time to be allocated for the recount of each of the 2339 ballot boxes.

Since the elections were held over a month ago, a winner is yet to be announced. The majority of observers who scrutinised the tabulation process have pronounced it to have not been credible.
GECOM itself had come in for much of the criticism, with repeated attempts being made by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to subvert the process going unchecked by the Chairwoman.

Despite Singh promising that she would facilitate a recount, attempts to have the recount done at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre never took off because of delays, more controversy and ultimately, a member of the coalition party securing an injunction from High Court Judge Franklyn Holder against the exercise.

The injunction was then thrown out by the Full Court and the Appeal Court upheld this decision, leaving the way clear for GECOM to conduct its recount and finally determine a winner of the elections.
But when given a chance to draft a proposed plan for the recount, Lowenfield drafted one that said the recount would last 156 days.

After a firestorm of criticism, Lowenfield was ordered to return to the drawing board and revise his proposal.