22,000 EAB observers to monitor elections

Aug 18, 2011 News

---

 

As preparations for Regional and General Elections continue, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) takes another step forward. Yesterday Chairman of GECOM, Dr. Steve Surujbally took the time to meet with representatives of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisations (ACEO) and recently with Guyana’s own Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB).
Ms. Christin Senior, who is Secretary of the ACEO, as well as the Public Education Officer of the Electoral Office of Jamaica, yesterday paid a courtesy call to Dr. Surujbally. Senior is here in Guyana as part of a team of representatives from Caribbean Election Management Bodies associated with the ACEO, who will participate at the Executive Meeting of the ACEO, which is being hosted by GECOM at the Hotel Tower today.

According to a release issued by GECOM, there are three salient issues to be addressed at this meeting. Participants will share an update on the newly established Commonwealth Network of national Election Management Bodies as documented in a Circular Letter from Commonwealth Secretary General, Dr. Kamalesh Sharma.
They will also review and approve the report of the last Annual General Meeting which was held in Trinidad in 2010.
Additionally, they will also be called upon to propose Agenda Items for the 2011Annual General Meeting of the ACEO which will be held here after Guyana’s General and Regional Elections – 2011.
Some of the proposed agenda items are expected to include capacity building workshops, identifying areas for mutual assistance, and a knowledge sharing forum for the ACEO, establishment of a work plan for the organisation, establishment and membership of a knowledge network and strategic planning for Caribbean Election Management bodies.
Meanwhile, on the local platform, Dr. Surujbally, who was accompanied by Chief Election Officer Mr. Goocool Boodoo, recently met with representatives of the EAB in the form of its Chairman Fr. Malcolm Rodriguez and Project Director of the Bureau Abbas Mancey. According to the GECOM release, the meeting was arranged at the request of the EAB and was intended to let the Bureau share the status of their plans with reference to observing the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
According to GECOM, Abbas Mancey stated during the meeting that the EAB intends to appoint approximately 22,000 local observers to monitor the elections across Guyana. He said that the names of the appointed persons will be forwarded to GECOM for accreditation and further stressed that no Political Activist will be appointed for accreditation as a Local Observer. It was also pointed out that among its pre-election activities, the EAB will be providing, with assistance from GECOM, suitable training to its members. The Bureau is also expected to be involved in testing the accuracy of the Voters List.
During the meeting, the need for compliance with the protocols enshrined in the Terms of Reference for Local/Domestic Observers was emphasized by Dr. Surujbally. He also pointed to the necessity of the EAB working in direct collaboration with Mr. Boodoo in so far as testing of the Voters List and the accreditation of Local Observers is concerned.  The Bureau will also be expected to consult with the Commission before making pronouncements on any matter relevant to the preparations for and conduct of the elections.  Surujbally pointed out that the EAB should follow GECOM’s protocol as documented for Local Observers, any aberration of which could result in the accreditation being suspended or withdrawn.
Mancey noted that, “The EAB has been active in elections monitoring since 1991 and has successfully monitored every local, national, and regional election held since its formation in 1991”. He pointed out that the Bureau’s mandate is the “establishment, maintenance, and preservation of democracy, particularly with regard to elections processes.” The EAB is a permanent organization which sets up operations around elections events, typically for the duration of approximately one year spanning pre- and post-elections work.  According to Mancey, the oganization has in the last 20 years worked in close collaboration with key civil society organizations, which are its Sponsors.
They also work with the donor community, and with large numbers of citizen volunteers in every administrative region of Guyana.
According to the Project Director, one of the principal goals of the 2011 National and Regional Elections Monitoring and Democracy Review Program is to conduct a reliable and nationally accepted citizen’s-based independent monitoring of the polling process and results of the 2011 National and Regional Elections. He noted that “It is hoped that citizens’ verification of the conduct of free and fair elections would enhance national trust and contribute towards the resolution of any disputes by non-violent means.”
Another area that the EAB is expected to get involved in is testing the Voters’ List and providing assistance to voters in locating their names and polling stations on the List of Electors. The Bureau is also looking to implement a public education program to assist first time voters, indigenous peoples, and the voting population in general with discussing and understanding the electoral system, the elections observation process, and the criteria that are usually applied in a modern democracy when choosing leaders.
Another goal for the EAB is to facilitate a nation-wide 20-year review of elections, and progress with democracy in order to develop a Democracy Blueprint to guide the EAB’s continuous work, which would be focused on a national citizen-based effort to not only strengthen democracy but also systematically monitor progress nationwide.
Mancey shared with Kaieteur News that the Bureau is mindful of the fact that these elections will mark 20 years since a broad coalition of Guyanese citizens with the support of the international community, “struggled and succeeded in opening up the electoral system to scrutiny so that elections could be monitored to determine whether they are free and fair, an important pillar of democracy.”
He also made an important revelation for the future of the Bureau when he pointed out that, the EAB has been approaching its office set-up for the 2011 elections monitoring period as a programme for longer term continuous operations. Mancey noted that the Bureau has come to the position that it is of great importance to establish continuous operations throughout the electoral cycle. This move he noted was not just intended to promote good electoral practice but it would also provide the basis for the Bureau’s expansion of operations into what he called “the other two pillars of democracy”. These areas are the right of access and means to access information; and citizen driven education, skill building, and monitoring of progress with respect to achieving national aspirations for democracy. These revelations come on the heels of a $44M grant to the EAB earlier this month by USAID.

---

---