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Joint opposition must reject GECOM Chair’s ruling on biometrics

Jan 22, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) is not surprised that GECOM’s Chair has sided with the PPP commissioners to deny the use of biometrics at the upcoming general and regional elections. We see this decision as a fatal blow against free, fair, and credible elections in Guyana if it prevails.

Guyana would be entering an election whereby the outcome would be in question even before the first ballot is cast. This, for the WPA, is a sure recipe for disorder which could hang around the neck of the country for a long time.

As the Chair opined, there is no law which prevents GECOM from using biometrics at the election—a view that the opposition-nominated commissioners have long advanced. She further contends that the use of fingerprints derived from biometrics as the sole form of identification is unconstitutional. Thus, there is a need for legislation to facilitate its implementation.

While WPA would like to hear a judicial review of this ruling, we support a move to the National Assembly to pass the necessary legislation in time for the pending election even as we await that review. We still believe this is the best, fair and just route open to GECOM, even with the time left before the election is constitutionally due.

We note that after her legal explanation, the Chair seems to cite inadequate time to facilitate legislation and the required logistics as the ultimate reason for her ruling against the use of the mechanism. WPA finds this utterly ridiculous from a chairperson who for over four years repeatedly denied a review of the last election and dragged her feet on the commission’s consideration of the substantive matter of biometrics. The Chair cannot have it both ways; you cannot frustrate the process for four years and then argue it is too late to act.

WPA says emphatically that the delay in putting in place this necessary guardrail against electoral fraud, as detected by the recount of the 2020 election, is solely the cause and responsibility of GECOM’s Chair and the PPP commissioners acting separately or together. In light of what amounts to deliberate and willful delay tactics by these actors, WPA cannot accept this ruling as the final say on the matter. We urge GECOM to immediately begin the process outlined by the Chair and amass the necessary resources needed for its speedy implementation.

The choice presented by the Chair of a compromised election that meets the constitutional deadline versus a credible election that may not meet that deadline is a false and dangerous choice. The remit of GECOM is to ultimately conduct elections that satisfy the acid test of free and fair elections free from fear and intimidation and which are consistent with modern democratic norms and international best practices.

Towards this end WPA calls on the Joint Opposition to reject the Chair’s ruling and aggressively mobilise public opinion and action to pressure GECOM to reverse it. What is at stake is more than just a routine election; the very national cohesion of our nation is on the line. WPA says unequivocally that there cannot be any credible election without, at a minimum. biometrics, a credible voters list and an impartial GECOM machinery.

Sincerely

Working Peoples Alliance

(Joint opposition must reject GECOM Chair’s ruling on biometrics)

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