The Guyana Elections Commission has not held a statutory meeting since September 2025, which has been seen as being responsible for the crippling of the work of the Commission, including preparations for Local Government Elections.

Earlier this week, the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh, admitted that she has not called a meeting of the Commission in over a year, but said the Commission’s Secretariat continues to function.

On Friday, Leader of the opposition People’s National Congress Reform, Aubrey Norton, said the situation has become untenable at at the Guyana Elections Commission, and the party will explore all options including Judicial review to force the Chairman of the Elections Commission to hold statutory meetings.

“We are well aware that GECOM is legally constituted from the inception, we have argued that, I have argued that it is a permanent Commission and remind people that there was a lot of debate in creating a permanent Commission and the decision was finally made and we have to live with that unless there is a legislation to change it. I also believe that once GECOM doesn’t do what is required, we can go to Court on the matter and seek judicial review, so that is an option,” Norton told news conference today.

Norton wants the GECOM Chairperman, Justice Claudette Singh, to explain the basis for suspending the meetings of the Commission.

He said the Chairman’s explanation that she is awaiting new Commissioners to be nominated cannot stand, given that the Commission is a permanent one and the current Commissioners are legally there.

“APNU maintains that the suspension has no basis in law, the damage goes beyond procedure, more than a year has been lost from the time available to prepare for the 2030 elections and in particular to introduce biometrics verification of voters. APNU is alarmed that this could be an effort to run down the clock on the time needed to implement biometrics,” Norton said.

The PNC Reform Leader said each month that passes and there is no meeting of the Elections Commission, critical electoral matters are placed on the back burner.

Two weeks ago, the Diplomatic Representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Commission, met with the Chairman and the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission on a number of electoral and other matters.

On Friday, President Irfaan Ali announced that Local Government Elections, which were constitutionally scheduled to take place this year, will not take place. The President sought to lay blame for that decision at the feet of the opposition political parties and their row over Opposition nominated members of the Elections Commission.

The Guyana Elections Commission is made up of a Chairman, who is appointed by the President following his agreement to a nomination of the Opposition Leader, three Government nominated Commissioners and three Opposition nominated Commissioners.

The current GECOM Commissioners, who were nominated by previous Opposition Leaders, have rejected calls for their resignation by the current Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed.

The current Opposition Leader wants to make his own nominations to the Commission, but the Commissioners have stated that while they were nominated by previous Opposition Leaders, they are full members of a permanent Commission, and nothing exists in law for them to be changed every time an Opposition Leader changes.

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