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PPP takes credit for Dr. Surujubally’s pending resignation
On Tuesday General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic, Clement Rohee, said that Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Dr. Steve Surjubally, is expected to resign from his office.
GECOM’s Chairman,
Dr. Steve Surujbally
According to Rohee, his party’s picketing exercises against GECOM have finally paid off.
During a press conference at Freedom House on Tuesday, Rohee reported that his party had received word that Surujbally is to finalise his resignation after his tenure comes to an end in November.
According to him, the GECOM chairman has met with President David Granger and with the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, to discuss the matter and as such the necessary arrangements are being made to ensure a smooth transition.
Rohee said, “I remember at some of the picketing exercises journalists would ask us how long we intend to continue with this picketing exercise and my response to them would be: ‘until our goals are achieved’. Well from all indications one of our goals has been achieved.”
Last year the PPP/C filed an election petition in the High Court, challenging the validity of the results of the May 2015 General and Regional Elections. The PPP has never accepted the elections results which saw it being booted out of office after 23 years in power.
PPP/C General Secretary, Clement Rohee
In response to the petition, Surujbally, who has been Chairman of GECOM since 2001, had stated that his resignation would come on his own terms and not at the behest of the PPP/C’s political pressure. The current Opposition had expressed its loss of confidence in him after GECOM refused to recount the votes of the elections.
Presently, Surujbally is on leave along with Chief Registration Officer, Keith Lowenfield. Rohee said that his party has taken the firm position that the CEO’s contract, which ends in March 2017, should not be renewed.
“Given the current investigation or audit that is taking place at GECOM, he should not return to office while the investigation is on-going.”
It had been reported that both Dr. Surujbally and Lowenfield have been going into office despite being on leave. Rohee said that his party had confirmed the reports. He said that it is unclear why the two gentlemen are at work despite being on leave.
The General-Secretary said that the present behaviour of the officials is grounds for suspicion. “If you are on leave, you are on leave. You can’t be on leave and at work. So it appears to me that they are either getting rid of or discussing issues that the auditors and investigators eventually will be aiming at.”
Rohee remarked that he does not want to speculate on the reasons for the presence of the two men at GECOM’s office, but based on the party’s experiences, Guyana should anticipate an outcome soon.
The announcement of Surujbally’s resignation comes at a time when the Elections Commission is under investigation by state auditors after damning revelations were made regarding purchases made by the entity prior to the May 2015 elections.
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