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–    Says benchmarks for democratic elections were met, but cites shortcomingsThe Commonwealth Secretariat has noted that while benchmarks for democratic elections wereCommonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharmamet in the general and regional elections of November 28, shortcomings remain to be addressed.Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma this week released the Final Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group which observed the polls here.“The Commonwealth Observer Group found that overall, the elections was credible and many of the benchmarks for democratic elections were met,” Sharma stated in the report. He said that the observers noted shortcomings regarding aspects of the campaign and tabulation of the results.Despite the failings, he said the elections represented further progress for the country in strengthening its democratic and electoral processes to ensure a more level playing field between contestants in the campaign.The Commonwealth Observer Group commended the preparedness of the Guyana Elections Commission, notably in terms of the significant improvement in the integrity of the voters’ register.Sharma said the Commonwealth stands ready to assist Guyana in further upgrading its democratic procedures and machinery.The Report was completed and signed by all members of the Commonwealth Observer Group prior to their departure from Guyana. It was presented to the Commonwealth Secretary-General by the Chair of the Group, the Hon Denis Marshall QSO, a former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and former New Zealand Cabinet Minister.The report was subsequently distributed to the Government of Guyana, political parties, the Elections Commission and all other Commonwealth governments.In their recommendations, the observers said that strong consideration should be given to ending the practice of having political appointees as members of the Elections Commission.“Such a formula compromises the effectiveness and integrity of the Commission, which needs to be independent and above politics at all levels,” the report stated.The observers called for adequate mechanisms to ensure the confidence of political parties and accountability, including effective liaison committees.They suggested that the respective roles of Commissioners vis-a-vis the role of the Chief Election Officer be more clearly defined, ensuring that the CEO has the space and mandate to fully undertake his/her duties in an effective and timely manner.The Commonwealth Observers recommended too that consideration be given to amending the electoral system to require parties to submit fixed ordinal lists.“This will mean that voters know exactly which candidates are most likely to take up the seats in the Assembly, thereby increasing accountability and transparency,” the report stated.The report recommended that consideration be given to re-evaluating the current distribution to ensure a more equitable allocation of seats.The observers stated a need to ensure proper implementation of the laws for declaration and public disclosure of campaign funding and expenditure, in order to ensure transparency and accountability.On election petitions, the observers stated that these need to be adjudicated upon in a timely manner in order to fully provide for a right to an effective legal remedy.Possible solutions, they said, could include having special judicial timelines for election-related complaints or even special election courts.“But whichever system is felt to be more appropriate it needs to ensure that consideration and decisions of election-related complaints and petitions are dealt with in a more timely manner.”On campaigning and the media, the observers noted the need to strengthen and enforce rules on the use of public resources, especially during election campaigns, to facilitate a more level playing field for all parties, and reduce the abuse of state resources through the power of incumbency.They said that the political parties are urged to strengthen their adherence to the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and respect for election laws before, during and after the election period.The observers urged the media to strengthen their adherence to the Code of Conduct for Media, governing the behaviour of media organisations and practitioners before, during and after the election period to ensure fairness, balance, accuracy and integrity in reportage.In particular, the Commonwealth recommended that state-owned media provide equitable coverage of all parties, as by their nature state-owned enterprises should be duty-bound to serve the public interest generally rather than one party.They also stated that appropriate measures should be expedited to allow multiple nationwide radio and television operators.“The people of Guyana should have access to a choice of media outlets for their information. Media diversity facilitates information from different sources and perspectives and promotes dialogue and debate on issues, so that the voices of many rather than a few can be heard.“Media diversity encourages healthy competition for quality, timeliness, reliability and talent.The observers recommend that monitoring and reporting on media fairness continue, and be expanded to online sources.According to the Commonwealth, the establishment of an independent media authority to regulate media conduct would strengthen efforts toward media balance in election campaigns, saying an independent media authority provides recourse to justice in the event of unfair reporting.The observers suggested that this could take the form of an authority similar to the media councils that exist in some other Commonwealth countries, where such councils are independent self-regulatory bodies that deal with complaints about the editorial content of print,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, broadcast and online media.Regarding voting, counting and elections results, the Commonwealth Observers had several recommendations.They said that in order to ensure that voters have access to timely and accurate information on Election Day to identify their respective polling stations, a region-wide copy of the voters list could be provided to each polling place, so that an official could accurately re-direct any voter not knowing their place of poll.Accuracy in the tabulation process is critical, the observer noted, while adding that it is equally clear that the process is also time sensitive.They recommended that GECOM should, in consultation with stakeholders, look into means by which the process can be streamlined in order to speed it up, while maintaining accuracy, transparency and accountability.The Observers noted that the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) fulfils an important function in observing the voter registration and voting processes, but appears to be under-resourced. The observers recommended that the EAB receives adequate resources to fully play its role.The Commonwealth Observers stated that Polling staff work extremely long hours on the day of the election, and the level of tiredness at the end of the process may partly account for the slow pace of the vote count in the Polling Stations.A relief system could be developed, enabling Presiding Officers in particular to have a short break in the course of the day, the Commonwealth Observers suggested.