We must avoid the potential for violence and the insulting of each other

Sep 23, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I have full confidence that a date for the upcoming elections will be released soon and a return to calm will ensue. There is no need for anyone to be portrayed as uncivilised or uncouth and less need for aggression and revenge. We must avoid the potential for violence and the insulting of each other.
We the people of Guyana are all looking for a transparent and trustworthy election process free of violence, disorder and corruption. Once a date is provided, which will be soon, the key issue left outstanding is to ensure we as a nation have a very successful election process supported by our confidence in the list of voters. GECOM should have been working in parallel to the judicial process, but that is now water under the bridge.
A partial house-to-house registration process is concerning and the rationalisation of the lists should not be a complicated process. Data processing in this day of age is not in need of supercomputers for such a small data set. The lack of ongoing registration throughout the years is the possible root cause of today’s problems and has allowed for the current list to be seen as obsolete.
I do not disagree that GECOM is an independent body, but the current Administration of President Granger should be supplying additional resources to ensure the acceleration of the election process to meet the required constitutional timeline.
Given the level of anxiety within the populace, we must ensure that a thorough job is done to provide a result free of the perspective of corruption.
Increase the size of the house-to-house registration team and utilise the local government resources to speed up the process. It is now also in the opposition’s best interest to participate to ensure a transparent and trustworthy list is finalised. The aim of this should be a completion date of one-month max and should be reflected in the election project plan. The question the Executive should ask is “What will it take to make this possible?” Then it is the Executive’s responsibility to provide the team with what they need to be successful.
The consolidation and finalisation objective should reflect a similar timeline. While training and preparation of polling stations are completed simultaneously.
The final month should be used to fine tune the list, printing of ballots, and the correction of any minor errors while absorbing potential delays. GECOM, at a minimum, should be providing weekly updates on progress to ensure that if additional resources are needed they can be provided by the Executive branch in a matter of days.
As the date for elections draws near the end of the three month timeline, a progress report should be provided at least twice a week and in the final weeks, this should be daily so as to mobilise resources quickly, and jointly resolve any issues that may arise.
Instead of continually worrying and extending the time to get things done, we need to shift to getting busy at resolving the issues. There should be no need to request an extension from the national assembly at this late juncture, this will only add to the controversy, and for this election season, such a request should only be made in the case of a national disaster or an act of God (Force Majeure). It is time for all hands on deck to get the job done correctly, quickly and peacefully.
Best regards,
Mr. Jamil Changlee

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