GECOM funding to be addressed before Parliament is dissolved
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, November 28, 2019
The additional funds needed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the holding of General and Regional Elections in March 2020, will have to be provided before the dissolution of Parliament.
This is according to Director General (DG) of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon, who today stressed that the Parliament is still functioning.
“Maybe the National Assembly has not met, but Parliament is functioning. We have said that it is important that GECOM gets all of the resources it needs to ensure that we have credible elections on March 2, 2020,” the DG said today at his post-cabinet press briefing.
He said funding for GECOM, among other matters, is under active consideration by Cabinet and as such, the dissolution of the Parliament will be determined in principled measure by the need for GECOM to get the additional financial resources.
Earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer of the GECOM Keith Lowenfield had told journalists that the fiscal year comes to an end in December of this year.
Commission Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh had also written to the Minister of Finance, Hon Winston Jordan seeking advice on the way relative to funding. Minister Jordan had indicated that the Commission will be provided with the funds required for the elections.