We will not participate in LGE with Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo at the helm of GECOM - Dharamlall

We will not participate in LGE with Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo at the helm of GECOM – Dharamlall

Aug 09, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, recently stated that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government, will not participate in Local Government Elections (LGE) if Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers and Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo is still at the helm of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall

Minister Dharamlall made that disclosure during an interview on the National Communication Network (NCN). After revealing his position of not participating in LGE with Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo still at the helm of GECOM, he noted that he believes that as soon as the secretariat is reformed and there are credible, impartial professional people at the helm of GECOM, Guyana can have proper elections.
In addition to the Minister’s comment, President Irfaan Ali, had also stated that his government is ready for LGE but only with credible elections machinery in place. The President was at the time responding to a question asked during a press conference, which he hosted on his government’s one-year anniversary since assuming office.
“Be assured we are ready and we are supportive of Local Government Elections, but with a transparent elections machinery and with professionals in place to conduct those elections so that we don’t experience what we did just a year ago,” President Ali said.
To further prove his government’s readiness for LGE, he further noted that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government had already made the necessary budgetary provisions in the budget to facilitate LGE. In March 2021, the National Assembly had approved $1.1 billion for LGE but no funds were allocated for another House-to-House registration exercise.
President Ali has stated that it is the role of the GECOM to run the elections and advise the government on its readiness. However, he added that the Commission is still dealing with a motion to remove officials who were intricately involved in the alleged rigging of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Moreover, moments after he was sworn in after the five-month long electoral impasse, President Ali had promised a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the attempts to rig the elections to keep former President David Granger, and the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition in office and deny the PPP/C victory.
However, that CoI is yet to commence, and according to the President, the government has been engaging various stakeholders to find suitable persons that can be part of the elections CoI. Moreover, there is a motion at the level of GECOM for the dismissal of Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers. The trio was sent on leave as the Commission considered the motion for their dismissal. The motion was tabled by government nominated Commissioners, Bibi Shadick and Sase Gunraj. Lowenfield has since filed a motion in the High Court seeking several things including barring Shadick and Gunraj from taking part in the deliberation to have him removed from GECOM.
According to reports, Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo proceeded on leave from June 28, 2021. The embattled GECOM officials were not only sent home but are also before City Magistrates at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts facing multiple charges in relation to their actions during the March 2, 2020 elections and the events that followed.