The Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) insistence on house-to-house registration, against the judgment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as well as the advice of their own in-house Counsel, appears to be a deliberate ploy to further delay elections.
This is according to A New and United Guyana (ANUG), a new party on the electoral scene.
In a statement to the media earlier today, the party noted that GECOM’s “defiance” was further strengthened by the late publication of the order dated June 11th in the Official Gazette, more than one month after it was drafted.
“This leads us to believe that the commission’s actions which are in contempt of court were deliberate and pre-meditated; a scheme to deliberately violate the constitution of Guyana, in the absence of any necessary or practical reasons for doing so, apart from an objective to enable the ruling party to hold on to power for as long as possible, is an abuse of the commission’s power, done for an improper purpose, and as such, their actions are illegal,” the party said.
ANUG noted that GECOM’s actions have placed the leadership of the commission’s integrity under question and, in the absence of a Chairman, has “stripped the nation of the confidence that the process is fair and in the interest of all parties.”
The party is asking that the President and Leader of the Opposition come to a quick decision on a Chairman of GECOM. The party further called for elections to be called within the timeframe alluded to by the CCJ.
Article 106(7) of the Constitution mandates elections be held within three months of the passage of a no-confidence motion. It has now been seven months since the passage of the motion which was deemed to have been successfully passed.
