GECOM composition beneficial to Guyana despite current gridlock — Attorney General

(Kaieteur News) – Attorney General, Anil Nandlall SC has defended the current composition of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) saying that it serves as an important safeguard to Guyana’s democracy despite the current impasse. Nandlall was at the time responding to questions on the online podcast, Starting Point about the recommendations made by Elections Observer group – the Carter Centre in favour of making the commission politically independent.

The commission has not met in over a year due to a dispute among the political opposition as it relates to the appointment of new commissioners to represent the newly formed lead party—We Invest in Nationhood (WIN). This lack of meetings has hampered the functioning of GECOM and the holding the Local Government Elections.

Despite this, the Attorney General asserted “In my respectful position, the composition helped us save this country had it not been for the PPP commissioners on that commission in 2020, we would have lost the elections; they would have been allowed to steal the elections. When they called bomb threats, Bibi Shadick, Robeson Benn and Sase Gunraj remained in that building if you put so called independent people in there, they would have ran for their lives so we have to be careful ….”