Two Opposition nominated GECOM Commissioners, Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman, have complained that the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh, has decommissioned the six-member Commission without consultation. They are now calling for her to step down.  

In a release, the Commissioners stated that they believe the Commission was disbanded by the Chairman so that she can avoid accountability.

They contend that their query before the Commission about disenfranchisement of some categories of workers from voting in the September General and Regional Elections as well as the Chairman’s failure to provide the elections results report before the Commission as mandated by law, might have triggered the Chair’s decision to shut the Commission down.

“The worst has since eventuated. The Chairperson has since unilaterally de-commissioned the Commission. Avoiding being held accountable for the aforementioned infringement, she determined that the Commissioners who enquired about those infringements were no longer Commissioners and as such the Commission was not duly constituted based on her interpretation of Article 163 of the Constitution. Albeit, in response to our enquiry, the gazetted results, though not publicly declared as required by law, were sent to us along with the notice of dismissal,” the two Commissioners said in a statement.

The Commissioners noted that the Chairman has no authority to decommission the Elections Commission. They said her act of omission (not presenting the regional results to the Commission and not publicly declaring any of the results) preceded the finalization of the results  and cannot be excused on the grounds that the Commission was not properly constituted. 

“And, if her interpretation of Article 163 is proven to be right, then by the same token by which she unilaterally seeks to dismiss the Commissioners she should demit office and not  unilaterally preside over GECOM , to wit approve payments, such as huge bonuses to the CEO,” Alexander and Trotman stated.

However the Commissioners contend that GECOM`s report for elections 2025 should be presented to the incumbent Commissioners as well as they should conduct the evaluation of the elections.

The Chairperson of GECOM has been reportedly contending that with the new make-up of the Opposition in Parliament, she believes the new Opposition Leader should be allowed to nominate new Commissioners. However, since the new Parliament has been convened, there has been no meeting as yet to elect an Opposition Leader.

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