I find it hard to be convinced that GECOM Chair is not playing the games of APNU+AFC

Dear Editor,

After the electoral rape of democracy by GECOM and its officers, nothing should surprise anyone, anymore. So let us just accept as par for the course, the statement yesterday attributed to GECOM that it would be awaiting a decision of the Court before any further actions. If this is true, then GECOM is the biggest collection of fools occupying a constitutional body anywhere. The statement claims that “the matter is sub Judice and [GECOM] therefore awaits the outcome of the legal proceedings currently engaging the attention of the Court to inform its deliberations and next steps.”

Among the seven Commissioners are three attorneys-at-law, including Justice Claudette Singh. At the secretariat level, there is also a legal officer. One would presume therefore that any statement issued by any level of GECOM, would have some legal input and would advise against any absurdities.

The statement by GECOM suggests that its understanding is that GECOM could sit back and do nothing until the matters have fully and finally wended their way through the court system, possibly for months, as the No Confidence Motion shenanigans by the same Coalition showed. In fact, there are two injunctions against the Commission:

Preventing GECOM from permitting or authorising any person named in the Agreement between Granger, Jagdeo and CARICOM to count or recount any ballots until the determination of the action brought by Ulita Moore; and

Restraining the Chairman and the Chief Election Officer from doing the same acts.

GECOM, and more egregiously its disastrous, invisible and ineffective Chairman must surely be aware of the duties and powers vested in them under Article 162 of the Constitution. I do not want to bore Madame Chair with restating the Article. She knows that GECOM has very wide powers regarding the conduct of elections, and to give instructions and take such action to ensure impartiality and fairness and compliance with the Constitution and other legislation.

A Chairperson with any sense of decency, self-respect and dignity, one who wants to protect the reputation of the entity of which s/he is the Chair, would have done all in their power to prevent the fiasco and fraud from took place before the eyes of the world. And to carry out a full internal investigation. It must be only Claudette Singh and her merry band who would have tolerated Mingo’s conduct, not once but twice. And then fail to review if not investigate conduct that has all the stench of fraud.

There is nothing preventing that. Indeed, since Ms. Moore’s amazing challenge, the Commission had the time and the space to carry out such a review/investigation and to relieve Mingo of his duties as Returning Officer for Polling District No. 4 while such an investigation was being carried out. But Madame Chair was not interested. She prefers to sit back and do nothing as she did when the ABCE representatives were being abused at GECOM.

I find it hard to be convinced that the Chairman is not playing the games of the APNU+AFC, Granger’s appointed Commissioners and his candidate Ms. Ulita Moore. After all, Granger enters into an Agreement and one of his candidates undermine it.

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Ram