Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), has clarified—through the Secretariat—the circumstances that informed her advice to President Irfaan Ali on announcing September 1, 2025, as Election Day.
“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 statement said.
The secretariat noted that the assertion that President Ali’s announcement was based on unilateral advice from Justice Singh, because that timeframe was not in keeping with a work plan that was last discussed on May 20, is misleading.
Guyana Standard understands that 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 months.
This publication was informed that the Chairman asked the President to allow her to consult with the Chief Election Officer (CEO) before she gave him an answer.
Following that consultation, the CEO reportedly informed Justice Singh that he had already prepared a draft work plan in anticipation of a possible need to conduct the elections before they became constitutionally due.
This was done to enable GECOM 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, places election day on August 25, 2025. 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 months.
It was also explained that the purported document, which opposition commissioners have dubbed a “work plan”, 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,” the Secretariat said.
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 months.
