Now for the serious work of preparing for general elections

Dear Editor, It is indeed refreshing that an agreement has been reached regarding the appointment of a Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Guyanese were already getting tired of the protracted delay in the naming of a new GECOM Chairman by President Granger.

Now that a Chairman has been named, it is important that GECOM get down to serious business in preparing for Regional and General elections within the constitutionally stipulated timeframe.

The Chief Election Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield is on record as saying that the existing Voters’ List could be used as the basis for a sanitization process in order to create a credible Official List of Electors (OLE). The Commission needs to now ascertain the validity of that information provided by Mr. Lowenfield at its next meeting having regard to attempts by a senior government official to suggest that Mr. Lowenfield may have been ‘misquoted’ in the media.

The next ‘hurdle’ in the holding of elections within the stipulated constitutional deadline is to have a date for elections announced by President Granger. The challenge facing the new GECOM Chair is to now advise the President on that body’s readiness to hold elections on or before September 18 2019. This would pave the way for elections to be held within the shortest possible time, given President Granger’s insistence that he cannot name a date for elections unless he is so advised by GECOM.

The naming of a GECOM Chair which accords with the constitutional provisions, even though delayed, has generated renewed optimism in the democratic processes.

I take this opportunity to extend congratulations to Justice Claudette Singh on her appointment as the new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission. The fact that she is the first woman in Guyana to hold such office is not without significance. Yours faithfully, Hydar Ally