Alexander, Rohee spar over GECOM’s readiness for upcoming polls

Apr 24, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- Government-nominated commissioner Clement Rohee and his opposition counterpart Vincent Alexander went head-to-head on Monday over the preparedness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to host general and regional elections later this year.

The two appeared on the online GlobeSpan 24×7 programme, each defending what they believe is the readiness or lack thereof of GECOM to effectively host the polls.  According to Rohee, GECOM has a robust structure that will ensure there is no recurrence of elections 2020. He said the commission is operating within the confines of the law and will not allow the emotions of any advocacy group or individual to override those laws.

“In looking ahead, it would seem to me that GECOM is well-positioned to ensure that its constitutional mandate is fulfilled to the best of its ability. We are serving there to ensure GECOM fulfils its mandate in accordance with the law, both the constitution and the Representation of the People Act (RPA). I do not want to see GECOM engage in any act that is unconstitutional because that may invite trouble,” he told online viewers.

But Alexander argued that GECOM is, in fact, in trouble, and while it may be preparing for elections, it has not done what is required to ensure a free and fair process.

He cited the issue of registration, which, based on a judgment by the court, prohibits GECOM from removing the names of persons from the Official List of Electors (OLE), except for persons who have died. He said the current continuous registration is building on a database that was established in 2008 and argued there is no mechanism in place for the deletion of names of Guyanese who have died overseas.

“I will contend that that is in the tens of thousands. So, when people refer to a bloated list, what to a large extent they are speaking about, particularly, are dead overseas Guyanese who are in the tens of thousands, and GECOM has been extremely lethargic in confronting those questions, which, in fact, I have placed on the agenda.”

Defending this stance, Rohee contended that the claims and objections process, which is also ongoing, allows family members to indicate, with proof, that someone has died. In fact, he said the question of the bloated list is not exactly what is being described because “if you have continuous registration, persons can make claims and objections for persons who have died, and then a particular process is kicked in regarding deletion. So, there is a process for the removal of names.” In the instance where a person may have died overseas, Rohee said a relative will inform GECOM and the General Registrar’s Office about the death. “That can happen. Maybe it will not happen on mass as Mr. Alexander would like to see it happen, but it is not to say that it does not happen,” he maintained.

Questioned by the host, Dr. Asquith Rose, whether it was not prudent for GECOM to carry out new house-to-house registration after 2020 to ensure a clean voters’ list, and why GECOM could not accommodate biometrics to allow for free and fair elections, Rohee charged that the issues raised are ‘highly coincidental with the views of the APNU-AFC.

He said the opposition has been manoeuvring to either delay the elections or postpone it altogether by virtue of its emotions. He emphasised that elections must adhere to the rule of law, and not feelings.

“Whether it is constitutional or whether it is the Representation of the People Act, let us be guided by the law. If the court rules, we must abide by what the court says. If the electoral laws say the elections and registration should be conducted in a particular manner, irrespective of whatever advocacy we engage in, our advocacy cannot take precedent above the law. Advocacy must always be done within the meaning of the law. GECOM has never done anything illegally or unconstitutionally,” Rohee debated.

He said Alexander must tell Guyana why the advocacy he is engaging in did not take place between 2015-2020 when APNU-AFC was in office.

Alexander, meanwhile, lamented that there are a lot of ‘facades and fakes’ that take place in Guyana in the name of democracy, when it is in fact only ‘democratic centralism.’  He said decisions are made within the corridors of government and imposed upon the election body. Alexander said a lot of recommendations made over the decades have still not been addressed.

“One is how we deal with our voters’ list. The second declaration is how we deal with a commission that has become irrelevant. A commission that cannot serve the purpose intended by our constitution. So GECOM is in trouble.”

The long-time commissioner relayed that there must be a system to ensure that the persons who turn up to vote are indeed registered. His position is that biometrics must be introduced. “What that will do is provide for the identification of the voters at the place of poll and will remove persons from being able to cast fraudulent votes.”

He also suggested the frequent renewal of identification cards, as the current cards date back almost 18 years. He said most of those cards could hardly be used for facial recognition.

“Of course, digital identification will resolve that problem. Another way for us to deal with that problem is to have ID cards that have term limits so that we renew ID cards to have up-to-date pics of registrants, which could be used on polling day to determine who turns up… There’s a matrix of things that suggest that we ought to pay attention to the electoral role at a minimum.”

Meanwhile, Rohee insisted that all the issues raised by Alexander have been discussed at the level of the commission or the court.  He said if they were addressed by the commission, they have already been decided against and if by the court, they have all been thrown out.

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• Alexander, elections 2025, GECOM, polls, Rohee, spar over GECOM

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