The Opposition nominated Commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission have accused the Chairman of the Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh, of unilaterally advising the President on the date for General and Regional Elections.

The three Commissioners said the President’s 1^st September date for the elections has fallen outside of the last election work plan submitted to the full Commission by the Chief Elections Officer.  

At a joint press conference this morning, the three opposition nominated Commissioners contended that it was not until the announcement was made that an updated workplan, reflective of the date announced by the President, was submitted the Commission.

The Chief Elections Officer had previously indicated that September 22, 2025 was the earliest possible date for the conduct of elections in Guyana, and had produced a workplan to reflect that date.

Election Commissioner Vincent Alexander said the Election Commissioners were caught off-guard with the President’s announcement.  

“While recognizing that it is the President’s prerogative to determine the election date, it is crass for him to have done so based on the purported chairman’s guidance which clearly misrepresented the CEO’s projected date of September 22, and the fact that even the proposed date was still under consideration and not yet agreed… This contrived and baseless date is just another instance of the manner of the conduct of GECOM, and the nation`s, affairs, under the chairmanship of the Justice Claudette Singh, in conjunction with the Chief Elections Officer and his cohorts,” Alexander told reporters.

Alexander said a “cursory” review of the latest workplan indicates that the timelines have been compressed to fast track the electoral process. It has reduced the previously estimated timeframe by 21 days.

“Those changes have affected the timelines, traditionally, used for Claims and Objections; submission of the list of candidates, among other requirements; and even statutory deadlines as in the instance of the time provided for appeals by parties, in relation to the list of candidates,” Alexander explained.

Weighing in on the issue, Election Commissioner Charles Corbin said statutory timelines are now severely affected by the new plan. Citing an example, Corbin pointed to the issue of Claims and Objection, in which only three days have been allotted for Claims and an additional two days for Objection.

“We have never had a claims and objections period in an election cycle that is less than 21 days, 14 days for claims and it is followed by an additional seven days for objections. In the current proposal, what you may describe as an expedited plan, three days are allocated. So, it means that this would have an impact on the electorate, and those are things you have to correct but those are not things that are laid down in legislation, these are customs and practices,” he explained.

Additionally, he said the amount of time allocated to contestants to prepare for Nomination Day is also of major concern.

According to him, parties would have just four days to prepare their List of Candidates for Nomination Day, once the Official List of Electors is released. Statutorily, parties are given 30 days or months to prepare their list.

The implications, he said, are grave for small and new parties hoping to contest the election.

“Now, what is being proposed is that you have four days. So, while the elephants would be able to respond, meaning the big parties, because they are in the election machinery, so the PNC and the PPP, and the big parties, if you give them four days or one day, they will be able to respond because they are in the business but what about the other contestants? And so, that is what we need to focus on to ensure that in terms of openness and compliance that the playing field is leveled,” Corbin said.

Further, in the absence of enhanced biometrics, the Commission was discussing a number of alternatives to guarantee free and fair elections. These include the deletion of the names of the deceased voters from the list based on the reports submitted by the Police and the Chief Medical Officer, as provided for as the result of the amendment to the Representation of the Peoples Act; and the highlighting of the names of overseas Guyanese on the voters list, thousands of whom are deceased.

The Commission is expected to meet this afternoon to discuss latest workplan. The Opposition nominated Commissioners intend to make their concerns known.

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