GECOM yet to set claims and objections period in line with Commission’s Decision

Oct 01, 2019 News

Even though the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has published a new order in the Official Gazette, the period of 35 days, set by the Commission for Claims and Objections is still not reflected in the new Order.

GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh

In fact, the new order states that the Claims and Objections period is set for 42 days (35+7), instead of the 35 (28+7) that the Commission decided on.
The full commission had made several decisions, last week, pertinent to the holding of Claims and Objections. The first decision, made unanimously, was that the qualifying date for electors is December 31, 2019, meaning that the persons will have to be 18 years old by that date in order to be eligible to vote in the election.
The second decision, opposed only by Commissioner Robeson Benn, is that Claims and Objections will start on October 1, 2019. It was also decided that it would run for 35 days (28+7).
The first Order, the National Registration (Residents) Order No. 70 of 2019, had incorrectly set the date at 49 (42+7) days.
Last week, Opposition-nominated Commissioners, Sase Gunraj and Robeson Benn, called a press conference to report that the incorrect period was published. They had, on that very day, raised the issue with GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh S.C., who moved to have changes made.
A source at GECOM had told Kaieteur News that the correction would be made. The new order bears a provision that revokes the previous one, but it lists 42 days, which is still inconsistent with the Commission’s decision.
Gunraj, who noted the change, in a recent Facebook post, said that that will also have to be corrected.
The Opposition, and the Commissioners it nominated, had alleged that certain elements at the Secretariat seem to be taking actions in-keeping with utterances out of Congress Place, and which may be interpreted as attempts to delay General and Regional Elections.
They had singled out Ward and Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, when asked who may be responsible for the unnecessary extension of the Claims and Objections period in the Order, and have committed to insisting on the laying of sanctions against the responsible individuals at the next statutory meeting of the Commission, today.
Kaieteur News understands that the Chair had perused the original document presented to her, in the preparatory stages of the Order, and had made several changes, including corrections to the extra days added on to the Claims and Objections period. But those changes were reportedly not reflected in the Order that was published in The Official Gazette.

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