GECOM Chair clarifies advice to President on election date was based on CEO’s readiness plan
READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM THE GUYANA ELECTIONS COMMISSION (GECOM):
Considering the need for the general public to be accurately informed about the advice given to President Irfaan Ali pertaining to GECOM’s readiness for the conduct of the upcoming General and Regional Elections, it is of crucial importance for the unadulterated facts to be brought to light against pieces of pertinent disinformation that were shared with media operatives during a Press Conference on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
The assertion that President Irfaan Ali’s naming of September 1, 2025, as the date for General and Regional Elections was apparently based on unilateral advice by the Chairman of GECOM because that timeframe was not in keeping with a work plan that was last discussed on May 20, is misleading for the following reasons: –
The Chairman received a call from President Ali on Friday, May 23, 2025, enquiring whether GECOM would be in a position to hold the elections within three (3) months. The Chairman asked the President to allow her to consult with the Chief Election Officer before she gave him an answer. The Chairman did consult with the Chief Election Officer immediately after her exchange with the President.
The Chief Election Officer informed the Chairman that, in anticipation of a possible need to conduct the elections, before they became constitutionally due, within three (3) months, he had prepared a draft work plan to be in a state of readiness to ‘hit the ground running’ should the need arise. In this regard, he further informed the Chairman that this draft, with the commencement of the three (3) months on June 1, 2025, placed election day at August 25, 2025, i.e., within less than three (3) months. It is specifically in consideration of this circumstance that the Chief Election Officer advised the Chairman that the Secretariat would be able to conduct the elections within three (3) Months.
The “work plan” that was mentioned during the press conference, in fact, could not be seen as the work plan to be used for the conduct of the upcoming elections. What was discussed was a schedule of activities with relevant timelines for completion. The schedule of activities was prepared based on a request for the GECOM Secretariat to prepare a schedule indicating what would be the earliest date on which the elections could be held after they become constitutionally due. Brief observations on the schedule of activities were made by a Commissioner during a Commission meeting. Accordingly, an undertaking was given by the Chief Election Officer to consider the observations and amend the schedule if necessary. The schedule of activities was never intended to be used as the work plan for the elections, nor was it discussed in this context.
Armed with the information provided by the Chief Election Officer, and in consideration of Article 61 of the Constitution that “elections shall be held on such day within three (3) months after every dissolution of Parliament as the President shall appoint by proclamation”, the Chairman advised President Ali that GECOM would be able to hold the elections within three (3) months.
Hopefully, the foregoing will dispel the publicised notion that the Chairman acted unilaterally, as was propagated during the above-referenced Press Conference.
