The CEO of GECOM has shown a clear bias

Dear Editor,

It bothers me how we can have a person in such a high position that undermines everything we stand for as a democracy. A position as important as the CEO of the Guyana Election’s Commission should be one that is as neutral as it comes, such that the integrity of this most important electoral body is not put at stake.

Let us go back to months ago when the votes were being tabulated. Nine of the ten districts were tabulated uneventfully, then came District 4. All the opposition parties and the world saw Clairmont Mingo’s blatant attempt to rig the District 4 count. This very CEO would have seen the original SOPs that were produced (the recount showed that they were almost identical to the SORs). This very CEO would have known that the numbers that Mingo presented were ficticious, this very CEO would have known that the makeshift screen produced to display the second set of figures would have sufficed to hide the second attempt at rigging the District 4 tabulation.

This very CEO was in haste to prepare the final report which would have paved the way for the incumbent to return to office. This very CEO was part of the several cases that were subsequently filed, including a junior APNUactivist’s bid to block the recount from going ahead. All else failed and the recount started.

As the plan unravelled, this very CEO would have read in the media that several persons whom the incumbent accused of having migrated but yet voted were actually in the country and voted. This very CEO would know that the matters raised as allegations must be raised in an elections petition. This very CEO through his mechanism would have trained thousands of workers and spent billions of dollars on the electoral process. This very CEO was and is the head of this Machine. This very CEO now questions the performance of ALL his staff, ALL political agents, ALL international observers to the extent that he is unable to ascertain if elections were fair and credible. If such was the extent of ‘fraud’ under the nose of the CEO, I am asking that he do the right thing. Resign with immediate effect.

The fate of our country cannot stand on the shoulder of an individual who has shown clear political bias, one who is sacrificing the integrity of the GECOM, one who cannot run a proper election and most of all, one whose action can stymie the democracy that sets Guyana apart from dictatorial and pariah states.

Yours truly
Marti De Souza