Alexander’s call for a review of the 2020 General and Regional Elections is useless and unnecessary

Mar 09, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

Mr. Vincent Alexander, one of the political opposition’s representatives at GECOM has called for a review of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

This call, albeit dead in the water, has been made before by Commissioner Alexander and his principals in the political opposition.

In essence, Alexander’s call stems from unproven allegations made by his party – the PNC – spuriously claiming there was ‘electoral misconduct purportedly committed by staff of the Guyana Elections Commission in collaboration with the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).’

As a member of the GECOM representing the PPP/C, I hold that the opposition’s spurious allegations have never been substantiated to this day, by a scintilla of concrete evidence.

It is not surprising therefore that the wild and far-fetched claims made by the PNCR have been met with skepticism and has been brushed aside by stakeholders due to their lack of corroboration from independent sources.

Editor, allow me to put the matter in context. Guyanese at home and abroad would recall that the 2020 general and regional elections were marked by significant tension and controversy.

Following the elections held on March 2, 2020, there was a period before results were declared—approximately five months.

This delay was largely attributed to unlawful attempts to ransack the verification process, disrupt and corrupt the vote tabulation of the results for District 4. It is essential to recognize that these actions were solely initiated by one party – the APNU+AFC.

Numerous local and international observers monitored the electoral process in 2020. Reports from organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), Commonwealth Observer Group, The Carter Center, The European Union/Commission and CARICOM confirmed that while there were challenges, the elections were conducted in a manner consistent with democratic norms.

The international observers concluded that despite some irregularities, there was no substantial evidence indicating that the elections were rigged.

In the light of these observations, any call for a review must be grounded in factual evidence rather than unproven allegations. Such a review, if ever agreed by the Commission should focus on transparent processes and adhere to established legal frameworks.

It is critical to highlight that a major factor contributing to the current situation is the previous Chief Election Officer’s failure to prepare and submit to GECOM a report on the 2020 Regional and General Elections in Guyana as mandated by law. This omission has serious implications.

The law requires that a report on the 2020 General and Regional Election be submitted to GECOM by the CEO. Mr. Keith Lowenfield was the CEO at GECOM for the 2020 elections.

The election report serves as a foundational document for evaluating the conduct of elections. Without the report, GECOM lacks essential data needed for a thorough evaluation.

Furthermore, the absence of the report hampers efforts to identify specific areas where irregularities may have occurred.

As a consequence, the absence of the CEO’s Report would render any evaluation, as desired by Commissioner Alexander, as useless, unnecessary and without basis.

Moreover, without such a document, it will be challenging to conduct an informed review of the 2020 General and Regional elections.

In my view, Commissioner Alexander’s call for a review reflects another, in a series of attempts by both he and his principals, to tie the hands of GECOM and to distract it from the tasks ahead for the holding of the 2025 election.

All the noise emanating from the political opposition about their concerns for electoral integrity should be viewed in the context of their brazen attempts to undermine the people’s confidence in GECOM in particular and the electoral process in general.

I therefore hold that any talk of a review of the 2O20 election should be canned, since for all intents and purposes it is politically motivated and based on the narrow self-interest of the PNC.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

Commissioner, GECOM

(Alexander’s call for a review of the 2020 General and Regional Elections is useless and unnecessary)

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GECOM, Mr. Vincent Alexander, Organization of American States, PNCR, political opposition’s representatives

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