The Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh, has stated that she did consult with the Chief Election Officer on a timeline for elections, and she did not act unilaterally with her advice to the President on GECOM’s readiness for elections this year.

In a statement this afternoon, the Elections Commission explained that the Chairperson received a call from President Irfaan Ali last Friday enquiring whether GECOM would be in a position to hold the elections within three (3) months.  

The Commission said the Chairman asked the President to allow her to consult with the Chief Election Officer before she gave him an answer, and she did just that.

According to the statement, the Chief Election Officer informed the Chairman that in anticipation of a possible need to conduct the elections he had prepared a draft work plan to be in a state of readiness to ‘hit the ground running’.

GECOM said the Chief Election Officer advised the Chairman that based on the workplan, the Commission would be ready to host elections by the 25^th August.

It was based on that timeline that the President announced the September 1 date for elections.

Opposition nominated members of the Commission have said they were blindsided by the President announcement. They said the initial workplan provided to Commissioners placed a date for election in late September.

But today, GECOM said the “work plan” that was mentioned by the Commissioners could not be seen as the work plan to be used for the conduct of the upcoming elections.

The Commission said it was a schedule of activities with relevant timelines for completion that was previously presented.

It was further explained that the schedule of activities was prepared based on a request for the GECOM Secretariat to prepare a schedule indicating what would be the earliest date on which the elections could be held after they become constitutionally due.

The Commission said armed with the information provided by the Chief Election Officer, and in consideration of Article 61 of the Constitution that “elections shall be held on such day within three (3) months after every dissolution of Parliament as the President shall appoint by proclamation”, the Chairman advised President Ali that GECOM would be able to hold the elections within three (3) months.

The Opposition nominated Commissioners have questioned the readiness of GECOM for the September 1 date.

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