The Opposition says it has not received a response from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) following a meeting that was held a week ago with the election body.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Executive Member, Attorney-at-law Roysdale Force in responding to a question from the Guyana Standard reiterated that a number of questions went unanswered during their engagement with Commissioners and the hierarchy of GECOM.
Among the questions asked were the state of affairs with regard to the current voters list. The opposition also posed questions about the absense of a Voter Education Manager at GECOM. In addition, questions were also raised about the recent boundary changes.
When asked if GECOM has provided an update to their questions, Forde said, “We have not yet received a response from GECOM and this is troubling. These issues are of national importance and I don’t see why GECOM has not found answers to these questions.”
Forde highlighted that the party is also concerned about a recent letter to the Guyana Elections Commission, from the Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud seeking a two weeks extension to address issues with the “Current List of Electors”.
“It is a cause for concern also because of the fact that on one hand, the Chief Elections Officer seems to be very concerned about the state of the process of the holding of elections and at the same time unable to directly correspond and outline his concerns,” Forde said.
Meanwhile, Executive Member of the party, Ganesh Mahipaul believes that the request made by the CEO shows an indication that there is some amount of concern coming from GECOM.
“It obviously means that the concerns raised by us were genuine. It also means that the presentation of tangible evidence has caused him (CEO) to recognize that he ought to fix the system,” Mahipaul said.
Following a meeting with officials of GECOM last Tuesday, APNU said it was not pleased with the outcome on a number of issues, namely the use of a bloated voters list, boundary adjustments, and the absence of a Voter Education Manager at the commission.
When questioned by the Guyana Standard to elaborate on its discontentment, Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC) Shurwayne Holder explained that at the meeting, the responses were inadequate, which gave the delegation the impression that the election body is not prepared for next year’s Local Government Elections.
