The Opposition, while registering its lack of confidence in the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), today said it will take necessary steps to ensure that the Elections Secretariat is not swamped with ‘political appointees.’

“We will do what it takes to ensure that GECOM gets proper personnel, generally, because as it stands, they are taking political hacks and fulling GECOM. And if you are talking about impact, one impact is that elections would never be credible in Guyana once you have a commission that is controlled by the People’s Progressive Party,” Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton told reporters during a virtual press conference today.

However, Mr. Norton declined to disclose how exactly the Opposition intends to treat with the issue, telling reporters that the party has a menu of options including legal action but it will not telegraph its plans.

The statement by Opposition comes weeks after the Chairman of the Elections Commission together with the government-nominated Commissioners voted to appoint the Commission’s IT Manager Aneal Giddings as the new Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO).

 Norton’s Advisor, Elson Lowe, while reading from a prepared statement, accused the GECOM Chairman of using her casting vote in a manner that brings into question GECOM’s impartiality.

“Recent appointments of senior staff have again exposed Claudette Singh’s incapacity and unwillingness to ensure GECOM can win the trust and confidence of the Guyanese public. Instead of seeking to foster compromise and consensus among GECOM commissioners, she has allowed the tyranny of the majority to prevail. She has used her casting vote to override or ignore well-established administrative laws, rules, and principles,” Mr Lowe said.

Further, he accused the Elections Chairman of colluding with the PPP/C nominated Commissioners to “manipulate” the recruitment process so as to appoint Mr Giddings as the DCEO.

“The records show he was not the most qualified candidate nor, worse, did he even meet the qualification criteria. Yet the GECOM chair voted for him to be selected and appointed,” Mr Lowe said.

He said this is the third time that GECOM has appointed a candidate who has not met the mandatory requirements.

“The other cases are the current CEO and the ACEO. In the latter case, the position of ACEO was re-advertised even though at least four of the original applicants met the requirements and were shortlisted on both occasions. However, Claudette Singh colluded with the PPP commissioners to allow a retiree who had not previously applied to get the job. The Guyanese public calls on Claudette Singh to explain these and her other disgraceful acts – all of which favour the PPP,” Mr Lowe said.

The Opposition believes GECOM Chair must be held accountable, and take the necessary steps to restore the public’s trust in her stewardship and in the Commission. However, he said should she fail to take the necessary action, then she ought to step down.

Related posts:

GECOM defends hiring of retired election official as new ACEO Norton insists that its time for change at the helm of GECOM; Dismisses Government’s concerns Norton calls for Claudette Singh’s removal as GECOM Chair Opposition Leader accuses GECOM Chairman of making political decision in hiring of new CEO