The Guyana Elections Commission has decided to formally cut ties with its former Chief Elections Officer, Gocool Boodoo. The decision by the seven member Commission was expected as Opposition nominated members had indicated that “it was time for Gocool to go”. And the Chairman of the Commission also appeared set on looking for a new Chief Elections Officer.
The seven member Commission met on Tuesday afternoon and decided that the Commission will not be renewing Gocool Boodoo’s contract. His contract ended in April, 2013. Tuesday’s decision essentially brings an end to Boodoo’s two decade career with the Elections body.
Boodoo had moved to the High Court to block the GECOM decision but Chief Justice Ian Chang threw the case out. The Government and the governing People’s Progressive Party had no immediate reaction on the decision of the Guyana Elections Commission.
But Opposition Leader and Leader of A Partnership for National Unity, David Granger on Tuesday night told News Source that the APNU is “very happy with the decision of the Guyana Elections Commission”.
Mr. Granger said the decision of GECOM is consistent with the APNU’s position on the former Chief Elections Officer.
“Mr. Boodoo has been associated with GECOM for the better part of twenty years and he has supervised three elections in his capacity as Chief Elections Officer in 2001, 2006 and 2011. All three of those elections were flawed in preventable ways”, Granger said.
The APNU Leader reiterated the position of his party that once Boodoo’s contract had expired, “there were no grounds for any renewal”. According to Mr. Granger, Boodoo’s performance over the years, “did not warrant any form of extension and we are quite happy with the decision”. He added that “we have had enough of Boodoo and we need a change”.
Opposition nominated member of the Guyana Elections Commission Vincent Alexander in a stinging letter to the press last week, lashed out at the former Chief Elections Officer for almost giving the PPP the majority in Parliament following the last elections although the combined Opposition parties, APNU and Alliance for Change had pulled in more votes.
Mr. Alexander appeared convinced that Boodoo made no calculation error and his “mistake” may have been deliberate. Following the 2006 elections, there was also controversy surrounding the awarding of a Regional seat to the PPP from Region 10 although the AFC had picked up more votes. The Opposition parties point to those two errors among other issues that supported their calls for the Guyana Elections Commission to cut ties with Boodoo.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login