Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo says that oil major ExxonMobil does not need “special” arrangements since it has the capability to transport its offshore workers to the mainland to vote at the Regional and General Elections on Monday.
Jagdeo, at a press conference earlier today, said that if any preference is given to the company, the same should be extended to other sections of the labour force, particularly, miners and others who work in the hinterland.
The former Head of State lamented that there seems to be a penchant to kowtow to the company without an equitable assessment of the needs of other stakeholders.
“…Why just offshore? Why not miners? I don’t like this business about ExxonMobil getting preferences. We seem to be rolling over [and] kneeling down for Exxon, etcetera. This has to stop. Why don’t they fly out the voters? They have helicopters. They’re flying all the time in and out. They can fly these kids who are working out there within one hour and get them here [onshore],” he said.
The party leader continued: “What about the guy in Imbaimadai? He’s further away. Should we make a special preference because he’s registered in Georgetown…Or the miners in the hinterland: should we fly them out or give them a special permit now? If we want to do it, do it for our people too. So, I don’t understand that we keep rolling over. …I just can’t handle this. It just makes me upset.”
His views on the matter come two days after it was revealed that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) declined a request by ExxonMobil to have offshore Guyanese workers vote by proxy.
Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, told the media on Tuesday that the refusal is tantamount to voter suppression. He said that he is of the “conviction” that the law in relation to proxies is applicable to ExxonMobil’s employees offshore.
He said that there are about 300 Guyanese working offshore.
“The decision, so far, represents a disenfranchisement of those workers and possible vote suppression,” he said,
GECOM, itself, back in November 2018 whilst investigating proxy voting at the Local Government Elections in Mabaruma, Region One, said: “A voter is entitled to vote by proxy in an election if he or she is unable to go to the polling station where he/she is listed to vote on Election Day; this may be because of illness, work in the case of those working in the security forces, at GECOM or the Transport and Harbours Department.”
