Georgetown: Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh has responded to threats on her life, stating that she is “not afraid”, as she believes in God.
“There is a bounty on my head from Friday night. I am not afraid because death is inevitable, and I believe in God,” Justice Singh said.
Threats to the Chairman’s life were made on Facebook, seemingly over her handling of the March 2, 2020 elections particularly the commission’s plans for a national recount.
She noted that reports have been made to the Guyana Police Force and the Cyber Crime Unit.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Vincent Alexander said he has also received similar threats, but noted that the commission must carry out its mandate.
“Every day on Facebook they have something to say about me, they stalk me all sorts of things because of the level at which we are operating, but the work has to go on. If you check Facebook, every day there are so many bits of misinformation. You can only assume that there is ignorance and or mal-intent to what they post,” he said.
While he has not filed a report to the police, he noted that some people are moving along the wrong path. “Our society is in trouble. With the level of ignorance out there,” he said.
Meanwhile, the GECOM Chair said that the commission will be utilising a 10-hour shift to carry out the national recount of March 2, 2020 votes.
While the commencement date and timeframe for the recount have not yet been decided on, GECOM Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh said the commission will commence the process from 8am and conclude at 6pm each day.
The Chair and other members of the commission were accompanied by members of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), as they re-visited the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC), this time to ascertain the safety of the venue in light of the emergency measures in place to stop the spread of the virus.
The NCTF was said to be satisfied with arrangements so far.
“We need to ensure the safety of the CARICOM team. As soon as that is finished, we have to communicate what we have done to ensure their safety to the Secretary-General… we will be leaving no stone unturned to ensure that,” Justice Singh told journalists outside the conference centre.
GECOM will be arranging the recount commencement date in line with the CARICOM team’s availability to travel to Guyana.
A decision was also taken to have members of the high-level team take the Cornovirus test in their home country before coming to Guyana.
Responding to her decision on the 10 workstations for the recount, the Chair said she could not guarantee the safety of the persons involved with 20 workstations, which would flow onto the outside of the centre.
In the meantime, the chair assured that her pledge for a national recount will be realised at all cost.
“I am doing everything possible. I am the person who spoke about the recount, I am the person who made the commitment and I am going to see it through and shortly too. I, like them, want to see it end,” she said.
Commissioner Vincent Alexander said today’s walkthrough was also to see the possible areas to place the 10 workstations for the recount.
With an anticipated 14 persons per workstation, including observers and commission members, the NCTF was on-site to determine what spaces can accommodate those numbers.
He said the eastern and western wing of the top floor will be used for the recount along with the central part of the bottom floor. He noted too that the centre is fitted with resources the commission will need to ensure a transparent process.
A draft order of the recount will be circulated among commissioners for comments before the final order is made.
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