President urges professionalism as regional elections commission officials meet for AGM
Georgetown, GINA, May 31, 2012
President Donald Ramotar speaking at the Sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisation (ACEO)
President Donald Ramotar urged that professionalism be the watchword of representatives of elections commissions within the Caribbean region as they met in Guyana for the Sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisation (ACEO) at the Princess Hotel.
President with delegates of the Sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisation (ACEO)
They were urged not to treat with apathy the need for improvement and as such were called upon to keep lines of communication open for candid discussion on various issues. Professionalism in the conduct of duties, he said, is paramount regardless of political creed or biases.
“You have to keep in front of you at all times the broader interest of your country and you have to know that people of the country… they will come around to the conclusion that you are providing an indispensible service to the nation and to the region,” President Ramotar said.
Guyanese went to the polls on November 28, 2011 in what was considered one of the most highly contested general elections which saw a new coalition party A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) contesting.
Ahead of the process, GECOM had consulted different political parties and other stakeholders on compliance requirements and when confronted with allegations of compromise to ballot boxes during the elections, it repudiated such statements condignly, berating the political parties for making the claims.
The process was closely monitored by observer missions from the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The OAS in its final report concluded “a mostly smooth process.”
Today, President Ramotar told the visiting delegates that free and fair elections are at the very heart of democracy and shared the belief that arbitral observers to the process give credence and affirm commitment of the country to transparency.
He flagged the idea of establishing a statutory body to represent the interest of elections commissions within the region but made it clear that he is not advocating a one Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Elections Commission.
A section of the delegates at the Sixth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisation (ACEO). Also in photo are Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission Dr. Steve Surujbally and Chief Elections Officer Goocool Boodhoo
The AGM was seen by the President as a mechanism through which avenues can be explored for improving the quality of elections within the region.
Guyana has been the beneficiary of support from elections commission bodies within the region in the lead up to its constitutional elections in the past with the Jamaican Elections Bureau assisting in fingerprint checks and in another instance experts from the Caribbean conducting audits of the country’s 1997 elections.
“You have some of the most important jobs within the region itself,” President Ramotar told the elections commission officials who he acknowledged are often times subject to unfair criticisms and physical abuse for the work they perform.
“That is absolutely horrendous... once people are doing an honest job, once they are doing a job in a fair way, once they are conscious of the position that they hold and how important that is to development and once the elections are free and fair and transparent, I think it is… something that should be totally condemned… to have elections officials being attacked,” President Ramotar said.
GECOM’s Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally would hold the Presidency of the ACEO for one year, after which it would be handed over to the Chairman of the Surinamese Electoral Body.
The Association is dedicated to the professional development of electoral organisations and the development of officers involved in electoral mandates in the participating CARICOM States.