The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, must be in-depth and deal with all the issues that surrounded the conduct of the elections, according to President Dr Irfaan Ali.
President Ali expressed this view on the sidelines of an event on Monday. According to him, it is important that the ToR scope is all encompassing. However, he could not give a definitive timeframe for when the CoI would be ready to begin.
“The names are now out there… I spoke to him [Chairman of CoI] a week ago. They are now working together, talking to each other. And crystalising the Terms of Reference.”
“The Terms of Reference have to be in keeping with all the issues around the elections… this is a process with the commissioners. So, I won’t be able to give you the date now (for the start of the CoI). But definitely work has started.”
When it comes to the fact that court matters are currently ongoing that pertain to the elections, President Ali noted that the government is cognisant of this. However, he pointed out that having promised a CoI, the hovernment is just delivering on this promise.
“I promised a CoI. So that is why there is a lot of work going on now on how that Terms of Reference is developed,” President Ali further informed the media.
Since the announcement of the CoI, stakeholders from several sections of society have noted the importance of a comprehensive inquiry into the elections, which resulted in an over five-month delay before President Ali could be sworn in in August of 2020.
Last month, President Ali had announced the long-awaited CoI. The inquiry will be chaired by Retired Justice of Appeal Stanley John of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The other members are former Attorney General, High Court Judge, and acting Justice of Appeal in the Eastern Caribbean, Justice Godfrey P Smith, SC; former Chair and Chief Elections Commissioner of India, Dr S Y Quraishi; and former acting Chancellor of Guyana’s Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh.
Additionally, it has been noted that former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr Nasim Zaidi; and Ghanian Election Administrator Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, who was appointed a Commonwealth Advisor to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) leading up to the 2020 elections, will both serve as resource personnel to the CoI.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, had subsequently explained that works are expected to commence soon to establish the ToR for the CoI before the four-member team begins the probe.
“The Terms of Reference will have to be drawn up, and that will determine the jurisdiction and the parameters within which the Commission of Inquiry will conduct its work,” Nandlall had said during his weekly programme – Issues In The News.
Following a largely smooth polling day on March 2, 2020, Guyana was thrown into a tumultuous five-month political and electoral impasse after the then incumbent APNU/AFC regime attempted to steal the election.
It was found during a subsequent national recount process that former Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo had heavily inflated the votes in favour of the coalition party.
Since the election fiasco unfolded, several persons that served within the apparatus of GECOM have already been charged with electoral fraud. These include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers, former PNCR Minister Volda Lawrence, and Mingo, among others.
