The perception of fairness

Nov 14, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
I use this opportunity to speak to my fellow Guyana Public Service Credit Union (GPSCU) members on the issue of “Elections’ Perception” and more so, developing a culture of running elections that are perceived to be fair.
My comments relate to the recently held (10th November 2013) annual general meeting of the GPSCU. At that meeting I was nominated for election to the management committee. There were four positions up to be filled on the said committee. At election time, the staff of the GPSCU went around the room and shared ballot papers to the seated members. And this is where a major flaw occurred and can lead to the perception of unfairness.
I am not saying that the election was rigged, but there is the critical requirement for the election process to withstand rigorous scrutiny so that the losing contestants and their supporters are not given grounds for crying foul.
As a contestant who lost, I am not crying foul. Some of the persons elected to the management committee I know personally and have the highest respect for their integrity, and I publicly congratulate them on their victory. In fact, I was elected a member to the three-man supervisory committee. The process of selection of persons to the supervisory committee was done by way of a show of hands and not via the ballot paper.
As GPSCU members we all have to work together to make the operations of the credit union more efficient, since there is always room for improvement and this letter in no way seeks to detract from the good work being done by the credit union in providing financial assistance to members. Nevertheless, my contention is that the election process was flawed and needs remedying.
Is there a need for a legal challenge on my behalf? I would say no. Currently the GPSCU is well managed. The secretary manager and staff are doing a good job. Further, as a member for over fifteen years I gave the GPSCU a favourable score of 7 on a scale 0 to 10.
I would now focus on providing suggestions for fixing the election flaws so that the elections in 2015 can be perceived to be above board.
1. The returning officer, the Chief Co-operatives Development Officer or his/her representative, should have control of the election process and recruit persons outside of the GPSCU membership or employment to manage the conduct of the election.
2. The GECOM election format can be used whereby each member would collect one stamped ballot from a ballot-issuing clerk, proceed to the polling booth, mark his/her ballot then have the ballot certified by a polling clerk before depositing it into the ballot box. All in plain view of the GPSCU members.
3. Each member should be allowed to vote only once. In order to vote a member must be present.
4. After the voting is completed the count is then done in the presence of everyone, the results declared and closure brought to the election process.
The above suggestions are not new or original ideas. They embody the general principles involved in providing an election structure that gives the perception of fairness. I am therefore calling on my fellow GPSCU members to insist that changes are made to future elections so that we can be proud of a process that is perceived to be fair.
And to the returning officer, Chief Co-operatives Development Officer, kindly insist that all elections that you supervise meet international standards of fairness and integrity so that as a cooperative movement we develop a culture whereby elections are perceived to be of the highest order.
I close by advising my fellow GPSCU members to spend their dividends wisely. Happy holidays to members and their families, and to our fellow Guyanese and visitors to beautiful Guyana.
Ian Manifold

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