Dear Editor,
The CCJ’s final orders emphasised that the Constitution, which deals with the consequences of the passage of such a motion, should be strictly followed, while the process of the appointment of a GECOM Chairman must be done with utmost importance to ensure that Guyana remains a democratic State.
Unfortunately, because of David Granger and his reluctance to appoint an impartial GECOM Chairman, who would be independent and competent to manage the elections per the provision of the electoral laws, GECOM remains non-functional.
The President is definitely bent to ensure that his choice (a person who will take instructions from him) would be the result in any process or negotiation. The Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, must ensure that he does not concede to any process or negotiation that will give President David Granger an op-portunity to select a GECOM Chairman that would “dance to the President’s tune “.
We must be convinced that the basic single description of an election which meets universally-recognised electoral and human rights standards is contained in the universally-recognised Interna-tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 25 (b) “genuine periodic elections…. guaran-teeing the free expression of the will of the electors”, so based on this evidence, the issue of H-t-H registration is not necessary but the “claims and objections” is mandatory to ensure every elector is guaranteed an opportunity to vote in the elections.
The most troubling and worrisome consequence that is prevalent is the prolonged silence of Caricom, that is a clear indication that Caricom is tolerating the APNU/AFC coalition Government’s disrespect and disregard for the Constitution.
The last instance that Caricom intervened, the accord that was formed rewarded the PNC for demon-strating to the people that if you lose by a set of rules that the PNC themselves had drafted, you simp-ly seize the umpire and demand new rules which will guarantee PNC victory, the accord also rewarded the PNC for its wilful lawless, bullying tactics culminating in the January 12 incident.
Caricom must intervene now. Don’t allow the current situation to escalate to a level that existed dur-ing the period of the post-1997 elections. Caricom’s refusal to intervene must not be seen as being supportive of the APNU/AFC coalition Government’s constitutional breaches.
Regards,
Zamal Hussain