The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), which claims to speaks on behalf of thousands of our nation’s workers, has endorsed a call from the Private Sector Commission (PSC) for government to declare Elections Day – March 02 – as a National Holiday.
FITUG said that the last few elections were declared National Holidays by the then Government, and that such decision “obviously took into account Guyanese inalienable right to exercise their franchise and to ensure maximum participation in this important democratic process in our country”.
“While we are aware that employees, lawfully, ought to be given adequate time off to be allowed to vote, we cannot discount the reality that there are employers who may not comply and thus denying such persons their right to vote. In cases where workers are required to work, such workers must be given sufficient time-off to cast their votes. We believe that with the merger of several polling stations across Guyana, we cannot discount that the voting process may be protracted,” FITUG said.
Also, the federation noted that a National Holiday will allow workers to be able to exercise their franchise without worry or fear of reprimand should the process take an extended time.
“We, therefore, reiterate our sincere call for March 02, 2020 to be declared a National Holiday in the interest of upholding our nation’s democracy,” the federation concluded.
Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, said yesterday that he is considering whether to confirm Elections Day a National Holiday.
“I’m considering that because I noticed that in 2011 and 2015, I noticed [former Home Affairs Minister under the previous administration] Clement Rohee making it a public holiday,” he said.
