Noting that more evidence was needed in order to stop the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) house-to-house registration, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire this morning refused to grant an application by attorney-at-law Christopher Ram who had approached the court seeking a Conservatory Order prohibiting the election body’s registration exercise which commenced last Saturday.
During an in-chamber hearing this morning at the Victoria Law Courts, Ram’s lawyer Anil Nandlall said that Justice George-Wiltshire held that Ram failed to satisfy the court that GECOM is not acting to complete the registration process and hold elections by September 18. According to Nandlall, the Chief Justice said, “that she wants more evidence to persuade her that this exercise that GECOM is embarking upon will take us beyond that timeframe.”
Nandlall said that Ram is also challenging the house-to-house registration on the ground that it is purely illegal, contrary to the National Registration Act, and contrary to the Electoral Laws Act. Furthermore, Nandlall said this is apart from challenging the process on the basis that it is in violation of Articles 106 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution and the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
In the circumstances, Nandlall said that he will be filing another affidavit by this afternoon to further substantiate the grounds. The respondents in the matter Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, Commissioner of National Registration; GECOM; and the Attorney General were given strict timelines by Justice George-Wiltshire to file affidavits in defence.
The Chief Justice will commence hearing arguments on Friday, August 2, 2019.
Apart from seeking the Orders, Ram is asking the court for a declaration that the house-to-house registration process is in violation of Articles 160 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution of Guyana and the letter and spirit of the judgments and Consequential Orders by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the No-Confidence Motion appeals. In this regard, Ram is further asking for a declaration that the house-to-house registration process is illegal, unlawful, ultra vires, unconstitutional, null, void, and of no effect.
Among other things, Ram contends that the GECOM Respondents were duly advised on separate occasions by their Legal Advisor Excellence Dazzell that the said house-to-house Registration exercise is unlawful and unconstitutional and they have ignored the said advice.
According to Ram, “If this house-to-house exercise is permitted to continue, it will constitute a flagrant violation, not only of the Constitution but of the rule of law and will be an assault on constitutional democracy…I fear that in order to complete this house-to-house registration within an impossible timeframe will result in thousands of Guyanese being unlawfully deregistered and will omit to register thousands of qualified registrants, thereby resulting in the loss of their right to vote at the next elections.”
Furthermore, Ram contends that the respondents have already defied the judgments and orders of the CCJ and the Constitution and therefore have manifested a clear intention that they are not prepared to be bound by an Order of Court unless it is specific and cast upon them a clear duty to act or refrain from acting.
In an affidavit in support of Ram’s application, PPP Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha, said he had raised objections to the conduct of house-to-house registration. According to him, he is also Chief Scrutineer of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) assigned to GECOM and was invited to a meeting to discuss the issue of house-to-house registration by Lowenfield and the Commissioner of National Registration.
“At the said meeting, I raised objections to the conduct of house-to-house registration which included, but was not limited to, the pending matters before the Caribbean Court of Justice and the urgent need to refresh the Official List of Electors by way of a Claims and Objections exercise in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions so as to have a list ready for elections to be held within the three months period as contemplated by Articles 106(6) and 106(7) of the Constitution of Guyana,” Mustapha noted in the Affidavit in Support.
PPP, Mustapha said, is the largest Opposition Party and is legally entitled to field scrutineers to scrutinise any registration process conducted under the National Registration Act and the Amendments thereto.
“On 19th July, 2019, I received a letter under the hand of Keith Lowenfield, Chief Election Officer and Commissioner of National Registration, informing of the commencement of House to House Registration Exercise on 20 July 2019. That this letter merely gave me less than one day’s notice, to train and make ready thousands of scrutineers of the People’s Progressive Party who are expected to participate in the said exercise, rendering it impossible for me to be able to do so.”
In this regard, he pointed out that the registration process has commenced without the participation of the largest political party in the National Assembly and indeed in Guyana.