-APNU+AFC tells GECOM
In a press statement this afternoon the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition is reporting that it requested and met with the GECOM Commission at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. The meeting was conducted by Zoom and was cordial and fruitful, and covered a wide range of issues, the party noted.
According to the statement, the team brought to the attention of the Commission a series of issues surrounding the current Continuous Registration process. These included, among many other issues, lack of public information on Continuous Registration, breaches in GECOM processes, and lack of consistency in the standard operating procedures at various offices. The Coalition highlighted the specific case of birth certificates being used with varying features (fake), while GECOM did not seem to have any mechanism in place to confirm their authenticity.
Moreover, the Coalition team expressed the view that the country’s electoral system required substantial reforms and that GECOM should not engage in any new elections without these reforms. The Coalition further stated that those reforms must benefit from international best practices and are geared at producing credible results that will have public acceptance. Breaches in the hiring process and breaches in the process of issuing ID cards were also brought to the commission’s attention.
The party insisted that based on these and other concerns, the Coalition’s confidence in the Continuous Registration process is lacking. The party however, pledged that its Scrutineers will continue to be present at the various offices to police the process with the aim of protecting the interest of all Guyanese. GECOM committed to deliberate on the matters raised and to conduct thorough investigations.
The Coalition team comprised PNCR Chairman, Hon. Shurwayne Holder, MP; PNCR General Secretary, Hon. Geeta Chandan-Edmond, MP; AFC General Secretary David Patterson, MP; and AFC Executive Member Cathy Hughes, MP. Representing GECOM were Chairperson of GECOM, Ret. Justice Claudette Singh; CEO Vishnu Persaud; APNU+AFC Commissioners, Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman; PPP Commissioners, Bibi Shaddick, Manoj Narayan and Sase Gunraj.
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