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GECOM Chair says: Elections timeline was given by CEO
Kaieteur News- The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) said Wednesday that it was Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud, who confirmed that the electoral body would be ready for general and regional elections within three months.
GECOM was responding to claims made by opposition-nominated commissioners Tuesday, that GECOM’s chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh provided misleading advice to President Irfan Ali.
GECOM chairperson Justice Claudette Singh ( Re’td)
At a press conference held at Legacy House, South Ruimveldt Gardens, Tuesday, commissioners Vincent Alexander, Desmond Trotman, and Charles Corbin rejected the September 1 date announced by the president, claiming that the decision was made unilaterally and contradicted the commission’s work plan.
Alexander stated that Chief Election Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud had submitted a “revised work plan” during a meeting on May 20, 2025, which identified September 22, 2025, as the earliest possible date for the holding of elections. However, GECOM has refuted the claim, stating that the chairman’s advice to the president was based on ‘constitutional provision for the conduct of General and Regional Elections and information provided to her by the chief elections officer.”
The electoral body pointed out that the chairman received a call from President Ali on Friday, May 23, 2025, enquiring whether GECOM would be in a position to hold the elections within three months. “The chairman asked the president to allow her to consult with the chief election officer before she gave him an answer. The chairman did consult with the chief election officer immediately after her exchange with the president. The chief election officer informed the chairman that, in anticipation of a possible need to conduct the elections before they became constitutionally due, within three months, he had prepared a draft work plan to be in a state of readiness to ‘hit the ground running’ should the need arise.”
According to GECOM, the CEO had informed Justice Singh that with a starting date of June 1, 2025, the draft plan projected elections could be held by August 25, 2025 which is within the three-month constitutional timeframe.
“Armed with the information provided by the chief election officer, and in consideration of Article 61 of the constitution that ‘elections shall be held on such day within three (3) months after every dissolution of parliament as the president shall appoint by proclamation,’ the chairman advised President Ali that GECOM would be able to hold the elections within three (3) months,” GECOM stated.
Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud
GECOM also addressed concerns about the so-called revised work plan that the opposition nominated commissioners were referring to in their press conference. According to the commission, the plan which suggested September 22, was never adopted as the official plan for the conduct of the elections nor was it discussed in context.
“What was discussed was a schedule of activities with relevant timelines for completion. The schedule of activities was prepared based on a request for the GECOM secretariat to prepare a schedule indicating what would be the earliest date on which the elections could be held after they become constitutionally due,” GECOM said.
The electoral body emphasised that the plan cited by the opposition was only a working document and not finalised. “Brief observations on the schedule of activities were made by a commissioner during a commission meeting. Accordingly, an undertaking was given by the chief election officer to consider the observations and amend the schedule, if necessary,” GECOM explained.
The commission reiterated that Chairperson Singh consulted with the CEO before advising President Ali, and that the date of September 1 was based on GECOM’s confirmed readiness to conduct elections within the required timeframe.
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