By Stabroek News
It was reported on June 27th by two elections commissioners, one from either side of the table that GECOM had rejected the proposed symbol of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party which included the image of a jaguar.
It is noteworthy that GECOM has not issued a statement on this matter and the media and the public have been left to rely on the commissioners which is not an ideal situation.
Both commissioners Vincent Alexander and Sase Gunraj have stated that the GECOM Chair, Justice of Appeal (ret鈥檇) Claudette Singh cast the deciding vote against the symbol on the ground that it offended Article 7 of the Constitution as the jaguar is part of the country鈥檚 coat of arms.
Article Seven says 鈥淚t is the duty of every citizen of Guyana wherever he or she may be and of every person in Guyana to respect the national flag, the coat of arms, the national anthem, the national pledge and the Constitution of Guyana, and to treat them with due and proper solemnity on all occasions鈥.
It is unclear by what cogitation Ms Singh arrived at the conclusion that the use by one party of the image of an animal that appears on the coat of arms of the country constitutes a breach of Article Seven which speaks of 鈥渄uty鈥, 鈥渞espect鈥 and 鈥渟olemnity鈥, all very subjective terms. Indeed, one can argue that the use of the jaguar as party symbol could connote great respect to the elements of the coat of arms.
Moreover, Article 7 is one of those symbolic features in the constitution which seek to establish the guiding ethos of respect for national symbols. A perceived breach however does not create a condition where the fundamental rights of individuals can be attenuated.
Ms Singh should have been guided by the free expression provisions of Article 146 of the constitution, one of the fundamental rights available to all persons. Under this section, the person who submitted the jaguar as a symbol has every right to do so.
Article 146. (1) says 鈥淓xcept with his or her own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his or her freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference and freedom from interference with his or her correspondence鈥. The article then goes on to list exceptions but none of these would apply in this case. Article 146 defeats Article 7 without a contest.
One could also have argued that the Rise, Organise and Rebuild Guyana party had long had a jaguar as part of its recognised party symbol and that this was not disallowed by the elections commission or objected to by then PPP/C-appointed commissioners. Notwithstanding this, the present GECOM could easily have argued, without shame, that what was long unacceptable was now being corrected.
The absurdity of Ms Singh鈥檚 decision would suggest that any public use of the image of a jaguar 鈥 let鈥檚 say on Mashramani Day or by a cricket team 鈥 should also be frowned upon.
Based on Mr Alexander鈥檚 correspondence to this newspaper, the decision to reject the symbol was also made on the ground that intellectual property rights over the jaguar had accrued to the indigenous people of this country in line with international conventions. This argument was supported by Lenox Shuman and the National Toshaos鈥 Council which had approached GECOM on the matter. The less said about these interventions the better. The jaguar and its qualities belong to no one group in this country and these submissions should have been cast aside forthwith. The proponents should perhaps spend more of their time safeguarding the jaguar populace from hunters and other predators.
It is evident that the move against the jaguar symbol being used by WIN was part a frenetic campaign by the ruling PPP/C to outflank and limit its reach and its appears that Ms Singh ended up contributing to this effort by an unjustified decision. This on top of her decision to consult only with the Chief Election Officer on a date for general elections after private communications by President Ali with her denotes a rocky start for GECOM in this election season.