Dear Editor,
With time I have grown to respect the legal proficient wisdom of the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh. What I have recognized is that she is legally well-advised.
In her latest statement of May 26, 2026, as quoted in one of the daily newspapers, she stated that “the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) cannot move forward with its work until it is properly constituted to represent Guyana’s current political dispensation.”
Technically, this constitutionally compact and legally all-encompassing position has all but guaranteed that the timeline for 2026 Local Government Elections is now improbable. It was veracious for the Chairperson of GECOM to have communicated her situation with the Guyanese public on the state of affairs at that constitutional institution and for this she must be commended. While she did not say it, the evidence is there for all to see that local government elections cannot be held before 2027.
As a member of the Guyanese public and a taxpayer, I absorb this message within the framework of Article 161 of the Guyana Constitution, which governs the composition of the Elections Commission. I also note that Article 226 of the said Constitution governs the general framework for meetings of that Commission.
Therefore, we can “bubble hot and bubble cold” all we want, until and unless the Chairperson of GECOM “duly summons” a meeting of the Elections Commission with duly recognized members, that process remains adjourned until such time that GECOM represents Guyana’s “current political dispensation.”
This underlines the point that those who were entitled to a seat prior to the 2025 elections, but as a result of the “current political dispensation” lack constitutional legitimacy, should not be allowed to draw from the coffers of GECOM. Therefore, why are they still being paid their salaries (stipend and other benefits) as former Commissioners? A member of the public must challenge GECOM in court as to why they are conducting such an illegality.
This apparent abuse of the financial architecture of the country ought to be brought to an end forthwith.
Despite the financial autonomy offered under the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act and the Constitution of Guyana, which allows for a lump-sum draw from the Consolidated Fund without line-by-line approval from the Ministry of Finance, that Accounting Officer remains accountable to the National Assembly for those expenditures and more so, must disclose his actions to the Public Accounts Committee. Every cent spent by GECOM must represent the spirit and intent of the Constitution and the Laws of Guyana and payments to people who do not “represent Guyana’s current political dispensation” cannot and should not be paid for roles that they do not hold under that said Constitution.
We can safely say that those Elections Commissioners who do not effectively “represent Guyana’s current political dispensation” and are essentially abrogating the spirit and intent of the Laws of Guyana by seeking to squat on the Commission, have been overpaid in breach of the Laws of Guyana. Thus, the operative question to ask: when will this financial procedural breach or act of illegal spending at GECOM whereby funds were used to pay some Elections Commissioners who do not “represent Guyana’s current political dispensation”, come to an end?
I call on the Office of the Auditor General to officially investigate this situation.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Prashad
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