GEORGETOWN – Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield has been tasked with revising his draft work plan for the national recount of the March 2 general and regional elections, which will be resubmitted when the commission meets again.
While a timeline for the commencement of the recount has not yet been decided, the commission agreed at a meeting on Thursday on the use of the Arthur Chung Convention Centre for the recount, the involvement of the representatives of political parties, and the respective roles GECOM officials will play.
Commissioner Vincent Alexander said, however, that there were no discussions on the 156-day proposal submitted by the CEO for the duration of the recount.
The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) said on Wednesday the 156-day proposed timeframe was “simply ridiculous”, and described it as another attempt to derail the electoral process and thwart the will of the electorate. On Thursday, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo said the party was instead proposing a ten-day recount, starting with the country’s largest voting district, Region Four.
But following Thursday’s GECOM meeting, Alexander said there were two factors Lowenfield had used in arriving at the 156 days.
The first, he explained, was the amount of time for the counting of the ballots. The other was that the CEO had taken into consideration a proposal made by Commissioner Robeson Benn that the operation be covered by two of the commissioners.
“So, it is very unfortunate that the CEO, who tried to work in conformity of what we said, is then lambasted,” Alexander told journalists.
Regarding the involvement of a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) high-level team in the process, Alexander reiterated that it would act as a third party to give “credence and credibility” to the process.
Alexander said the commission will be relying on Article 161 (b) of the Constitution and Section 22 of the Representation of the People’s Act and “will start from ground zero to carry out the recount”.
He said once there is a declaration of the results, the previous declaration would become irrelevant.
(CMC)
