GECOM meeting adjourns following disruptive behaviour by PPP Commissioner – Vincent Alexander
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- Finalisation of plans in preparation for LGE were to be discussed
DPI, GUYANA, Tuesday, June 5, 2018
The statutory meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was today abruptly adjourned following an impasse resulting from a verbal confrontation between Chairman James Patterson and PPP Commissioner, Robeson Benn.
Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, joined by Desmond Trotman and Charles Corbin, updated the media this afternoon in the compound of the GECOM office, High Street, Kingston.
GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander updating the media on the disruption of statutory meeting.
According to Alexander since (rtd.) Justice Patterson assumed the Chairmanship of the Commission, there has been a disconnect and oftentimes disruptive interaction from the PPP commissioner.
Today’s disruption arose from the “unsubstantiated” claim of ethnic imbalance of 90 percent Afro-Guyanese to 10 percent Indo-Guyanese composition of GECOM staff.
“The Chairman challenged his statistics. He could not provide evidential information in relation to the statistics but maintained that there was a problem with the ethnic imbalance,” Commissioner Alexander said.
Alexander clarified that GECOM does not keep information based on ethnicity and questioned on what basis can persons account for ethnicity.
The matter is being taken into the public domain without GECOM having the opportunity of a proposition was of major concern to the Commission.
Important matters, Alexander noted were to be discussed at this meeting, including the finalisation of plans in preparation for the hosting of Local Government Elections (LGE).
By: Stacy Carmichael.
Image: Jules Gibson.