Georgetown: The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced its decision to launch the 7th Cycle of Continuous Registration on December 1, and made it very clear that its decision was not politically motivated.
GECOM said during its 431 Statutory Meeting on October 14, the unanimous decision was taken to execute the Seventh Continuous Registration Cycle by its commissioners.
After Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger began his call for Local Government Elections earlier this year; there was much confusion as to whether the Guyanese population is ready for any kind of election.
Subsequently, because of supposed discrepancies in the voters’ list, the Peoples’ Progressive Party/Civil (PPP/C) Government Administration investigated and found that there were approximately 10,000 persons who have either died or have migrated on the list, including former President Author Chung.
As a result, General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee called for the 7th Cycle of Registration to begin on November 17. GECOM said Rohee’s call came over a month after it had already taken the decision to carry out the registration cycle.
GECOM said “it must be noted that the call made by Mr Clement Rohee for GECOM to conduct the 7th cycle of Continuous Registration, which came on November 17, 2014, came more than a month after the Commission took the decision to so do. Consequently, it must be absolutely clear to all concerned that the Commission’s decision was not influenced by any political party of other stakeholder whatsoever.”
But APNU has since been calling for early elections, following the prorogation of Parliament more than a week ago. It is said that the additional 10,000 names on the voters’ list would have worked in APNU’s favour had there been early elections with registrations being carried.
GECOM reiterated that conducting registration cycles is one of its primary routine functions which has to be done, and is not determined by any political party. It was also revealed by GECOM that for this specific upcoming cycle of registration, it did not consult with any external stakeholder.
This move now sets this registration cycle aside from the rest, because according to GECOM’s routine protocol, on matters which the Commission deems appropriate, the Chairman consults with the political parties who hold seats in Parliament before making a decision.
The 7th cycle of Continuous Registration is expected to promote a more transparent and fair election. Although a date for General Elections has not been set, Parliament was prorogued by President Donald Ramotar on November 10 for a period of up to six months to facilitate dialogue with the Opposition for the smooth running of Guyana.
The prorogation followed the No-Confidence Motion which was put forth by the Alliance for Change and was set to be debated upon the reconvening of Parliament on November 10 and Ramotar said his decision was taken also to preserve the life of the 10th Parliament.
However, the Opposition leaders have since refused to have any dialogue with the President outside of Parliament despite the calls from various local organisations, including the Private Sector Commission and The National Association of Regional Chambers of Commerce of Guyana.
GECOM said it will continue to carry out its functions with the highest level of transparency, accountability and impartiality and reiterated its stance of honouring its responsibilities without instructions from any one political party.
“The Commission does not, and will not take instructions from any political party relative to honouring its responsibilities,” the Elections Commission said.
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