GECOM impasse

Aug 22, 2026 Editorial, News

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(Kaieteur News) – The Carter Center recently warned that the deadlock over the composition of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) should be fixed urgently.

Obviously, this is not a minor disagreement between politicians. Many of the electoral troubles this country has experienced over the year started at GECOM.

The Carter Center says that without a fully functioning GECOM, the commission will be unable to properly organise Local Government Elections within the statutory timeframe and will struggle to implement reforms in adequate time for the next general and regional elections.

That should concern every Guyanese, regardless of political affiliation. GECOM cannot be allowed to become another battlefield where politicians fight over appointments while the country’s electoral system stands still. The present impasse stems largely from the dramatic change in Guyana’s parliamentary landscape following the 2025 elections. The old two-party arrangement has been shattered, yet the institutions designed around that political reality have not kept pace.

For years, Guyana’s electoral system has operated within a political framework dominated by the PPP/C and the PNC/APNU. The 2025 election changed that equation, with the emergence of WIN as the principal opposition force. Yet the three opposition-nominated seats on GECOM remain occupied by commissioners appointed under the previous opposition leadership. The resulting dispute has effectively paralysed the commission.

GECOM Chairperson Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh has already acknowledged that the commission cannot properly move forward until the current political configuration is reflected. Kaieteur News reported in May that the impasse was hampering preparations for Local Government Elections, while several key GECOM positions remained vacant.

This is unacceptable.

The electoral machinery of a democratic country cannot be permitted to grind to a halt because political actors cannot agree on who should sit around a table.

But the problem extends beyond GECOM.

The Carter Center has also urged Guyana to amend the Constitutional Reform Act of 2022 to reflect the country’s new parliamentary configuration. The government itself has previously acknowledged the need for such an amendment. Yet acknowledgement is not action.

Democracy cannot function effectively when the rules governing democratic institutions are frozen in a political era that no longer exists.

Guyana cannot boast about its economic transformation while tolerating an electoral system struggling to adapt to political reality.

The country also cannot cherry-pick the recommendations of international observers—embracing those that are politically convenient while ignoring those that demand uncomfortable changes.

The Carter Center has previously raised serious concerns about campaign finance, the misuse of state resources and the unequal advantages enjoyed by incumbents. It has repeatedly called for reforms designed to restore confidence in GECOM and strengthen the electoral system.

Those concerns have not disappeared because an election has ended.

In fact, they become more important between elections.

The ballot box is not merely a piece of paper dropped into a container every five years. It is the ultimate mechanism through which citizens hold governments accountable. If citizens believe that the rules are manipulated, that campaign financing is opaque, that state resources can be deployed for partisan advantage, or that the elections commission is paralysed by political interference, public confidence will inevitably suffer.

That is why campaign finance regulations, a credible and continuously scrutinised voters’ list, transparent electoral administration, meaningful constitutional reform and a stronger, more independent GECOM are not optional luxuries.

They are the foundation of democracy.

The Government and opposition therefore need to stop treating electoral reform as a matter of political convenience. The question should not be: “What benefits my party?” It should be: “What protects the democratic rights of every Guyanese?”

Guyana has already experienced the consequences of electoral distrust. The country does not need another crisis to remind its leaders of the value of credible institutions.

The Carter Center has sounded the warning.

The government, opposition and parliament must now demonstrate that they have heard it.

Every day of political paralysis is another day lost in preparing for the next election and another day in which public confidence in the democratic process is allowed to erode.

Guyana’s democracy is too important to be held hostage by political convenience.

Fix GECOM. Fix the law. Fix the electoral system.

And do it before the next crisis, not after it.

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• Carter Center, Editorial, GECOM, PPPC

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