GECOM ready for elections - Business community

GECOM ready for elections – Business community

Nov 22, 2014 News

Representatives of the business community have expressed satisfaction on the readiness

Senior representatives of the Private Sector Commission and GECOM during Wednesday’s meeting.

of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to host Local and General Elections at a short notice.
According to GECOM which is tasked with managing elections for the country, senior representatives of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) “have expressed satisfaction” pertaining to the state of its preparedness, relative to the conduct of General and Regional or Local Government Elections, should a date be set for any at short notice.
“This sentiment was expressed collectively by the PSC’s representatives at the conclusion of a meeting between these two entities on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at the GECOM Boardroom.”
GECOM said it arranged the briefing session in response to a request from the business body for a meeting to be held to discuss several germane issues.
“With regard to the probable conduct of Local Government Elections, GECOM emphasized that the President’s non-assent to outstanding legislation relative to Local Government, which were approved by the National Assembly, has no bearing on the Commission insofar as the conduct of these elections are concerned.”
The PSC representatives were also provided an update on the demarcation of boundaries, and plans for the implementation of a comprehensive voter education programme.
“With regard to General and Regional Elections, GECOM underscored its readiness to efficiently and effectively manage Elections should they be announced at short notice.”
The other issues discussed at the meeting included continuous registration; the Preliminary and Revised List of Electors 2014; the integrity of the Official List of Electors, the resuscitation of the Media Monitoring Unit and local and international elections observers.
“The PSC had sought the meeting to get clarity on the above mentioned specific issues which were subjects of public and political discourse that were published in the media. At the conclusion of the meeting, the PSC’s representatives were pleased with the explanations and information provided. They departed with the sense of confidence that GECOM was indeed in the position to successfully hold any of the two sets of elections, should the Commission be required to so do at short notice.”
Representing GECOM at the meeting Wednesday were its Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally; Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud and GECOM’s Legal Officer, Juanita Barker.
The PSC was represented by its President, Ramesh Persaud; Captain Gerald Gouveia, Kit Nascimento, Elizabeth Alleyne and Ornetta Dophin.