There was no mistake in the 2011 vote count; the formula for converting votes into seats was changed
Posted By Staff Writer On July 11, 2013 In Letters |
Dear Editor,
The time has come to break my silence on the Boodoo affair. I am breaking my silence for two reasons. First, the Chronicle newspaper facilitated a letter which sought to blame ethnic cleansing for the non-support of a new contract for Mr Boodoo, former Chief Elections Officer. This is nothing short of using the old racist bogey trap and bigotry that has kept Guyana stagnated and is the main platform for some politicians and political parties, in Guyana. How could the African Guyanese Commissioners be accused of racism or ethnic cleansing, at GECOM, when for their entire tenure, so far, only Indians have been offered jobs in the hierarchy with no objections from the African Guyanese Commissioners who are now referred to as the ethnic cleansers? The posts of the Human Resource and Administrative Managers at GECOM, two top posts, have been repeatedly, and only, filled by Indo-Guyanese within the last five years. And in instances where they have been fired or terminated from those said positions, they were fired at Mr Boodoo’s insistence with protestations from some Commissioners, including the African Guyanese Commissioners, in particular, over the manner in which their contracts were not renewed or terminated. So much for the accusation of ethnic cleansing by the African Guyanese Com- missioners and the racist overtones of the Indian Arrival Committee whose racist pronouncements were facilitated by the Chronicle. It seems that some have sanctioned rights to such overtones or outright manifestations, while others dare not.
Second, I am responding because the truth is not being told. In fact quite the opposite is being provided as the truth. The latest such attempt was Peeping Tom’s column of July 8, 2013. Every day, there is someone referring to Boodoo’s action, in his preparation of the results of the 2011 elections, as a mistake. There was no mistake. Mr Boodoo was singularly responsible for converting the vote count into seats. This was not his first exposure to the task. It was his third. There is only one formula for converting the votes into seats. How could it be a mistake if a factor in the formula is changed? There was no error of calculation. Sixty-five (65) replaced forty (40) in the formula. Let it be known that no calculations were presented to the Commission for scrutiny. Signed declarations were presented. There was nothing for the naked eye to discern. It was my academic knowledge of the system and my constant explanation of the system to students that equipped me to discern the false declaration (result). When challenged, Mr Boodoo responded that he was right and was presenting the correct results.
It required a sustained exchange; reference to the legal provisions that provide for the formula; and my insistence that he had used an incorrect formula that caused Mr Boodoo to resort to the correct and only available formula to recalculate the allocation of seats. It should be noted that he had already used the same formulation to correctly calculate the allocation of seats for the ten constituencies (regions). This was the straw that broke the camel’s back since it had been a pattern of Mr Boodoo to treat the Commissioners with contempt with regard to the truth. Enough was enough and is enough. Let the truth be told and I challenge anyone to refute the story that I now tell. My decency and professional cloak influenced my public silence, which has been exploited to drown out the truth and perpetuate falsehood. Enough is enough. I am now cloaked in good governance and guided by openness and transparency. Let the truth be told. There was no mistake. There was no error. Did the system work? No! The system was not intended to be curative. It was intended to be preventative. Mr Boodoo’s ill had to be cured since it was about to inflict death on the results. It had previously inflicted death in the 2006 elections.
In 2006, the mistake was brought to Mr Boodoo and the Commissioners’ attention at a time when it could have been corrected ‒ ask the AFC. In fact, correction was promised but alas the knell tolled and GECOM piously said, “let them seek redress in court.” A court which dismissed the just case on technical grounds. 2011 was an attempt to once again deprive the AFC of a seat. An attempt to beat up on the small party in deference to the PPP/C. Let the truth be told.
The facts are irrefutable. I now await all of the bile, venom and the like as I stand by the truth which must prevail. I can no longer be silent nor be silenced, cost it what it may.
Yours faithfully, Vincent Alexander GECOM Commissioner
