Do not yield to misinformation – Attorney-at-law Robert Corbin tells CCJ

─ One should examine all the factors before one yield to some of the misinformation which has been presented to this honourable court

─ there’s a gross misunderstanding of the functioning of GECOM with regard to the National Registration Act which is separate and distinct from the Representation of the Peoples Act

 

DPI, Guyana, Friday, May 10, 2019

 

Appearing as a member of the government’s legal team in the appeals of the Court of Appeal’s rulings surrounding the December 21, 2018 vote, Attorney-at-Law Robert Corbin today urged the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to not yield to the invitation of the representatives of the opposition PPP given their many misrepresentations.

“I’m suggesting that the invitation to this court has been done without providing all the information to enable the court to make its decision in an objective manner which will enable GECOM [Guyana Elections Commission] to carry out the functions assigned to it by the constitution,” the attorney said.

In reference to the pleadings of PPP attorneys-at-law at the CCJ, to order that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) hold elections forthwith, Corbin said that the Constitution of Guyana gives GECOM the authority to manage the electoral processes inclusive of the compilation of the list of electors and this authority ought not to be undermined by the courts.

“There have been several statements made about the functioning of the elections commission… an invitation has been extended to this court to substitute itself for the GECOM itself…  One should examine all of the factors before one yields to some of the misinformation which has been presented to this honourable court,” Corbin, himself a former opposition leader, urged the justices of the CCJ.

He also highlighted what he says are misunderstandings of the roles of the GECOM and how it is expected to execute elections.

“There’s a gross misunderstanding of the functioning of GECOM with regard to the National Registration Act, which is separate and distinct from the Representation of the Peoples Act. The National Registration Act is intended to compile a list of all citizens of the country and since that information is going to be required by GECOM at some point the Guyana Elections Commission has been provided constitutional authority to supervise that activity since it is from that database that the voters list is extracted from.”

He added that the arguments proffered by attorneys representing the opposition PPP do not take into consideration several requirements of the constitution, among them Fiscal Management and Accountability Act and the need to go back to Parliament for approval before GECOM can be granted funding for the conduct of elections.

 

Kidackie Amsterdam

Image: Kawsie Wishart