Independent CoI To Probe GECOM’s Weaknesses

By Anara Khan

DPI, Guyana, Thursday, October 1, 2020

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has said the Government of Guyana is committed to ensuring the will of the people is secure.

The President made this assertion during a recent interview with some members of the local media fraternity.

“There has to have a system to people trust in,” President Ali said, noting that the trust in the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat has been significantly eroded as a result of the events following the March 2 elections.

“That is why we said we have to get an international commission of inquiry (COI) to go in there independently to bring to us what occurred, where are the weaknesses and where the holes were,” the President explained.

President Ali maintained that an independent CoI is not overreaching as the entire aim of the exercise is to protect democracy and the will of the people.

“This is an independent COI that goes there and looks at what took place not only on Election Day, it has to look at everything that took place. The world wants to know what took place,” the Head of State said.

Guyana’s democracy rests on the electorate being able to preserve the will of the people. The will of the people prevailed which allowed the PPP/C Government to assume office after five gruelling months.

“This Government is the beneficiary of the will of the people. This Government is here because the will of the people spoke. This Government is here because the people elected this Government. We are not the beneficiary of any system,” he asserted.

Dr. Ali said they want the system fixed because it tried to take away the will of the people and derail democracy.

While the CoI will produce recommendations for reforms to fix the system, it will not interfere with the election petition filed by the APNU/AFC.

“The CoI has nothing to do with the actions filed; the judiciary will deal with that. That’s a separate arm of Government. It cannot influence the judiciary,” the President said. 

During a recent regional interview, Dr. Ali stated the COI was necessary to ensure that the persons who attempted to obstruct democracy and the will of the people were held accountable.