Local government elections in 2004 may only be a pipedream if prerequisites like the selection of an electoral process and corrections in the voters' database are not met.
"They could be held easily within a year, based on the premise that the prerequisites are addressed," Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally told reporters yesterday.
In preparation for local government elections, GECOM has developed timeframes for activities, like voter education, that need to be completed before elections are held. There are 111 different exercises that have been identified for completion within a year. But at the moment, everything hinges on the selection of an election process, for which the Local Government Task Force is responsible.
The last local government elections in Guyana were held in 1994. Since then, there have been numerous delays occasioned by political crises and other issues.
Since 2001, the Local Government Task Force has been working on local government reform proposals. But its work was delayed for various reasons including the pause in the dialogue between President Bharrat Jagdeo and then opposition leader Desmond Hoyte. The Task Force, which is co-chaired by Minister within the Ministry of Local Government, Clinton Collymore and PNCR Chairman Vincent Alexander, has resumed meeting but has still to reach consensus on an electoral process.
Surujbally noted that although the commission is not represented on the Task Force, GECOM is convinced that it has a role to play in the process, perhaps as an observer. "We are not saying it was wrong to exclude us, but we are convinced that we could play a role... because we are the implementers. We have to carry out whatever they decide," he said.
GECOM has documented for the Task Force and the subject minister, what it believes are the absolute prerequisites for the staging of local government elections and the timeframe for completion. Also, with the aid of a consultant from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, GECOM is prepared to conduct voter education programmes to coincide with any process selected by the Task Force.
GECOM is working on preparations for electoral reform, also with the aid of a consultant. This includes the consolidation of existing laws and arranging the provisions in logical sequence while deleting the repealed sections. The final product would be a reference manual on constitutional and other legislation relevant to GECOM. The substantive reforms, meanwhile, consist of provisions to improve the registration and electoral processes through amendments to existing provisos. GECOM has also embarked on a programme for continuous voter registration, although there is no legislation in place to support this programme, hence the electoral reform.
Surujbally emphasised that these are all necessary prerequisites to the elections. "Let me make it clear, no one is going to give the commission a basket to fetch water. We are not going to have local government elections until the prerequisites are in place."
But the selection of an electoral process is not the only system that needs to be put in place before the regional elections are held.
There is still the question of the GECOM database, about which some concerns have been expressed.
The main opposition party PNCR has pointed to several vulnerabilities that were detected in the security safeguards in audits that were conducted following the 2001 general elections. Although the system auditors have found no evidence that the database was breached, the PNCR says it has no confidence in the integrity of the database and wants it scrapped immediately; the only solution it sees to guard against voter disenfranchisement.
But a consultant hired by GECOM has prepared a report on how the security vulnerabilities should be addressed, based on the weaknesses detected in the audits which were done.
Surujbally said the report, which addresses all of the perceived vulnerabilities within the information technology system, was submitted at the end of last year. It is currently being studied by the commission and the stakeholders who have until the end of next month to comment on the proposals. He noted that once endorsed by the stakeholders the proposals would be implemented at a time which has already been set, although GECOM would be willing to compromise for earlier implementation.