GECOM Chairman never asked any Commissioner to leave a Statutory Meeting

Dear Editor,

Reference is made to a letter written by Mr. Hydar Ally in the Friday, July 27, 2018 edition of the Stabroek News under the caption, `Ejection of city councillor by Mayor Green a troubling development.’

Paragraph three of his letter is an insult to the integrity and leadership of the Guyana Elections Commission. In his letter, Mr. Ally stated, “Only recently, an opposition member of the Guyana Elections Commission, Mr. Robeson Benn was ordered out of a Statutory meeting of that body by the Chairman of GECOM.”

The GECOM Chairman, Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson never asked Commissioner Robeson Benn or any other Commissioner to leave a Statutory meeting.

Mr. Ally needs to get his facts correct before he attempts to write, more so to publish such inaccurate information to deliberately try to tarnish the image of the Commission. While the Commissioners representing the Government and those representing the Opposition may not always agree on certain subject matters, the Commission values the views and contributions of all Commissioners.

If Commissioners choose to walk out of a meeting because their view has not been accepted, he/she has done so on their own accord. The GECOM Chairman facilitates transparent dialogue as the head of a Constitutional Commission.

GECOM’s Statutory Meetings can no way equate to what transpired at other organizations Yours faithfully, Yolanda Ward Public Relations Officer Guyana Elections Commission