Georgetown: President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Patrick Yarde has called on the Opposition to respect Guyana’s Constitution and return to the National Assembly to support a two-thirds majority to extend the elections timeline.
Yard was addressing the 23rd Biennial Delegates’ Conference at the Baridi Benab, State House.
“I challenge the Opposition Leader to respect the Constitution [of Guyana] by returning to Parliament to extend the life for elections and thereafter tone down the rhetoric and stop peddling misinformation that would result in breaches of the law,” he said.
Yarde affirmed that there must be no technicalities used to compromise the constitutional ability of one’s right to vote at elections, and reiterated the call for a credible voters’ list.
“We are of the very firm position that the voters’ list must be credible in accordance with the Constitution. This masquerade show that has been taking place, we don’t support it; the voters’ list must be credible; the people who are voting must be eligible to vote,” he said.
For that reason, he said GPSU has applied to GECOM to be a domestic observer for the much-anticipated elections.
On June 18, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the vote of December 21 was properly passed. Hence, there have been increased calls for elections to be held. However, there has also been widespread calls for House-to-House Registration to be held; something that GECOM is preparing to conduct.
Since the current Official List of Electors (OLE), commonly referred to as the voters’ list, has been expired, the main Parliamentary Opposition party has been calling for the now-discredited list to be used. However, His Excellency, President David Granger has been resolute in his decision for there to be a clean voters’ list before General and Regional Elections are held.
Below is a statement issued by the opposition:
“The illegal president, David Granger, ended yet another address to the nation with the Guyanese people being no clearer than they were before. His address has not given a definitive date for General and Regional Elections; rather he says: “…the earliest possible date for the holding of General and Regional Elections will be on Monday, 2nd March 2020.”
His evidenced history of flip-flopping does not inspire confidence in anything that he says. Therefore, nothing short of a signed proclamation from him, declaring a date for General and Regional Elections, will be credible.
Further, Mr. Granger links a parliamentary extension of the life of his illegal government to the readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to hold Elections, by saying: “The extension of a period beyond three months for the holding of an election is related to the Elections Commission’s readiness to hold the elections. The Government of Guyana must, as a consequence, return to the National Assembly to request an extension.” There is no valid link between these two issues. A return to the National Assembly is wholly unnecessary for him to discharge his constitutional duty to proclaim a date for Elections and dissolve Parliament, nor is it linked to a requirement for GECOM to be ready for Elections.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) remains convinced that his call for a return to the National Assembly is an attempt to blackmail the Parliamentary Opposition into extending the life of his illegal government, so that he can secure some legal cover for the many illegal acts, including the approval of billions in contracts, which have been committed since the passage of the no-confidence motion on December 21, 2019. All of this is taking place as he grasps for some level of respectability.
Granger’s comment that “…we are on the right path to preserve our precious parliamentary democracy” could not be further from the truth. His actions have not only undermined our standing as a democracy, but has caused Guyana to come in for international condemnation. To date, the illegal president remains the biggest threat to our democracy. He has failed to comply with the Constitution of Guyana and pushed our nation into unconstitutional rule without hesitation.”
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