The Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association issued a call today for the Guyana Elections Commission to do all acts and things necessary in the shortest possible time to ensure the accurate credible and transparent declaration of the results of the 2020 elections.

The Bar Council reminded that Article 69 of the Constitution of Guyana mandates that on dissolution Parliament, the next session of Parliament must commence no later than four (4) months from the end of the preceding session.

With the last session of Parliament being dissolved on December 30, 2019, the Bar Council has pointed out that the next session must begin no later than April 30, 2020.

The Guyana Elections Commission is yet to start the recount. A timeline could, however, come as early as this weekend.

The Bar Council said time is of the essence

“The Constitution of Guyana is the supreme law of Guyana to which all persons and bodies are subject. Timelines laid down by the constitution are not merely matters of principle which one can simply choose to abide by or ignore. The failure to abide by the constitution has far-reaching consequences, both nationally and internationally, inter alia for good governance and the rule of law”, the statement said.

The Bar Council posited that the absence of parliamentary oversight of those who purport to exercise executive powers is of grave concern as it places the rule of law under siege.

The Bar Council also expressed deep concern over what it called the laissez faire approach taken by GECOM and its Secretariat to the issue of the recount.

The Commission has been meeting over the past two weeks on a number of issues related to the recount. The Chairperson of the Commission is to make final decisions on the recount tomorrow.

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