Gilgeous admits excluding problems from polls report
RETURNING Officer in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) for the 1997 general elections, Joseph Gilgeous yesterday admitted that he had failed to make a written disclosure of some problems encountered during the balloting. Answering questions on his now accepted but unsigned report, put to him by Senior Counsel Peter Britton, for the petitioner in the extant elections petition, Esther Perreira, the witness said one problem pertained to a mix-up of ballot box covers. Gilgeous said about 50 of the boxes had lids which bore numbers different to those on the containers and that happened when they were unsealed to retrieve voter identification (ID) cards and other election materials inadvertently placed in them instead of blue canvas bags. He explained that he reported the discovery to Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Stanley Singh, number one respondent in the litigationcase, but did not include it in his writing. Gilgeous said, when he was compiling the document, he did not detect that some of the Statements of Poll (SOPs) were unauthenticated by the Presiding Officers. But, after being shown copies of those from his district, he acknowledged that they were without signatures. Earlier, led by Senior Counsel Doodnauth Singh, representing the CEO, Gilgeous swore that the law was heeded, in keeping with Regulation 47 of the National Registration (Residents) Revision of Registers) Act. He said, during the registration period, a total of 35,742 people, aged 14 years and above, were registered. Of those, 31,550 were on the electoral list and he uplifted 31,907 IDs, of which 30,380 were distributed. A remaining amount of 1,527 were returned to National Registration Centre as they related to persons who were deceased, had gone abroad or removed from the district. The witness said, on the morning of December 16, 1997, he collected 120 SOPs from the respective Deputy Returning Officers at the polling stations in Region Five and, using the information on them, he tabulated and forwarded the results to the CEO. According to Gilgeous, the People's National Congress (PNC) secured 10,168 votes and the People's Progressive Party/Civic 18,468. Witness said, after the close of polls, he transported the ballot boxes to Georgetown in a truck under Police escort and handed them over to the CEO. Under cross-examination by Britton, Gilgeous revealed that he is an Education Officer who had experience prior to 1997 and, on being approached by the CEO, has agreed to serve as a coordintor, in Region Five again, for the forthcoming local government elections. He began receiving the remuneration of $55,000 a month for the latter assignment since January 1, 1999. As an Education Officer, he is familiar with the compilation of reports and knows they are supposed to carry signatures and dates and, because his compendium is undated, no one would be able to accurately deduce from it what transpired on a certain day. Gilgeous said he was unable to determine how many unused IDs relate to people who migrated or died. When the matter was adjourned to today, the witness was being cross-examined by another respondent, Mr Saphier Husain, Leader of National Independence Party (NIP). Meanwhile Justice Claudette Singh, during yesterday's sitting, suggested that the Court sit in the afternoons, too, to hasten a conclusion. But Senior Counsel Singh, who is now rebutting the case for the petitioner, said he would not be available for afternoon sessions. He promised, though, to ensure he is represented every morning. The exchange took place following an early adjournment Wednesday resulting from Singh's absence and an undertaking by the judge to have the lawyers involved formulate a plan for expediting the proceedings. Perreira, a PNC supporter of Lot 75 South Sophia, Greater Georgetown, is challenging the validity of the 1997 polls on the ground that the process was so flawed the outcome cannot be said to accurately reflect the will of the electorate. In her quest, she has cited President Janet Jagan of the PPP/Civic governing alliance and PNC Leader Desmond Hoyte among the List Representatives of contesting political parties. But, all of the politicians, except Hamilton Green of A Good and Green Guyana (AGGG), have pledged to abide the ruling in this instance.
Timetable Day 1 - Signing of agreement Day 6 - Full resumption of work Day 10 - Appointment of tribunal Day 70 - Submission of arbitration award
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