-calls for judicial review
Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner, Vincent Alexander has accused Chairperson Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh of unilaterally sidelining opposition-nominated commissioners.
In a letter to the editor on Tuesday, Alexander said Singh is “casting the opposition nominees to the curb” by declaring that GECOM is not properly constituted until a new Opposition Leader is sworn in and nominates new commissioners. He argued that the Chair’s decision effectively removes existing opposition-nominated members autocratically.
“It has long now been rumored that [Justice Singh]… wishes to see the back of me,” Alexander wrote. “Her recent public response to the letter of Commissioners Alexander, Corbin and Trotman, exemplifies… the desire to see the back of me as a commissioner, and her ineptitude, incompetence and bias.
Singh’s position follows the performance of businessman Azruddin Mohamed’s We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party in the September elections, which has positioned him to be sworn in as the next Opposition Leader. The Chair has maintained that the Commission cannot function until new commissioners are appointed under the advice of the new Opposition Leader, as stipulated in the Constitution.
Alexander rejected that interpretation, saying GECOM’s life “could not have come to an end before the results were declared” and that the former Guyana Chief Justice had usurped jurisdiction by acting on her own constitutional interpretation.
“I have served for 18 years under different regimes … without the issue of my term being subjected to the new configuration of the Parliament and/or the change of office bearers,” he said, calling for judicial or legislative clarification on the matter.
Further, Alexander said that GECOM, in its current configuration, is “not fit-for-purpose” and should be restructured into a professional, non-partisan body.
