Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:00 AM
Coalition’s GECOM Commissioners withdraw from meeting after Chair’s refusal to meet Amna Ally
– PPP’s Gunraj refutes claims
From left – Commissioners Charles Corbin, Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman.
Kaieteur News – Three Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioners, Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman, yesterday withdrew from a statutory meeting after they alleged that GECOM’s Chairman, Claudette Singh, had refused to meet with a delegation from the People’s National Congress (PNC), as well as the party’s General Secretary (GS), Amna Ally.
According to the Coalition-nominated commissioners, it was reported yesterday at a meeting, that there was an exchange of correspondence between GECOM Chair and Ally, with a request by Ally for meetings between the Commission and the Chair, respectively.
The Commissioners went on to say, however, that it was reported that the Chairperson refused the request for a meeting with Ally on the grounds that such a meeting is “unprecedented.” To this, the Commissioners wrote, “The APNU+AFC is a major stakeholder and as such, we consider it discourteous, at least, for her not to have entertained their presence.”
However, when Kaieteur News spoke to government-nominated Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, he rejected the Commissioners’ statements and labelled them as “outright lies.”
“The request to the Chairman, based on what was communicated to us in the meeting today, was that they requested to meet with the Chairman alone. As far as I can recall, that is unprecedented where the Chairman alone in my tenure has entertained any meeting with any delegation from any political party. It has always been the Commission meeting the delegation. And as far as I am concerned, the Chairman’s position was in keeping with that position that has always occurred,” Gunraj explained.
When asked whether the Chairman communicated specifically that she refused the conference because they had wanted to meet with her alone, Gunraj explained that “The Chairman communicated to the Commission that she communicated to them – the representative, Amna Ally – that she was not prepared to meet alone, [but] that she was prepared to meet, with the Commission. She is part of a collective, and as a consequence, she requested that the meeting be with the entire commission. They have obviously refused that and the PNC Commissioners have walked out.”
Notwithstanding this, it was highlighted that GECOM is on the verge of major decision making with regards to voter registration, a matter that was litigated and requires serious and in-depth consideration, before a decision is made.
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