Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud, has submitted a work plan to the Elections Commission detailing that the Secretariat of the Commission could be ready for General and Regional Elections by the end of September.

In an interview, GECOM Commissioner, Charles Corbin, said the work plan is still to be discussed by the full Commission, but he noted that based on the work plan, it is clear that the election machinery could be ready in September for the elections.

“It does indicate that late September would be the earliest possible date in accordance with those considerations, independently of the Secretariat that we would be able to deliver,” Corbin told reporters on Tuesday.

Corbin, however, said the Opposition-nominated Commissioners are of the opinion that there are factors that can prevent the Elections Secretariat from being in a state of readiness by September.

“While there are these general considerations, there are internal requirements as to the amount of time that should elapse between Nomination Day and Election Day. The amount of time by our experience between the extraction of a PLE and the delivery of an RLE and it being posted, and if you put that into consideration you will find that there are other issues which are tied up both in legislation and practical occurrence. So, that for instance, if you have an objection, there is a process that has to be followed,” Corbin explained.

Outside of the work plan, Election Commissioner Desmond Trotman said he is deeply concerned that as the GECOM Secretariat prepares for the upcoming polls, important issues are not being brought before the Commission for deliberation and input from all of the Commissioners.

“Last week we met with some representatives from the European Commission, at that meeting, we were astonished, at least I was astonished, to hear information being given to the people from the European Commission, which really should have first been brought to the Commission and given for the Commission’s approval and was not brought to the Commission. And that is an ongoing type of situation at the Commission,” Trotman said.

The three Opposition nominated Commissioners said they are concerned that there are decisions being made outside of the Commission that could affect the conduct of the upcoming elections.

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