Attorney at Law and Member of Parliament Roysdale Forde believes that there are fundamental issues with the holding of Local Government Elections using the current list and the gerrymandering of boundaries.
Speaking at the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) press conference on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, the MP said, “Our preliminary investigations would’ve revealed that the list currently as printed and released to the public does not accurately and properly capture changes of constituency boundaries. There are persons who ought to have been in the new boundaries, are outside of them. And persons who are within new boundaries as published by the list are not properly so placed based to the requirements.”
Forde noted that there’s a more fundamental issue involved rather than just simply the location, the boundaries, and whether the residents or the voters are competently placed. ”The underlying question here”, the Attorney said, “is a legal question as to the competency of the local government minister to unilaterally exercise a power to alter constituency boundaries.”
Senior Counsel Forde stated that given the boundaries confusion and the wrong voters’ list being published by GECOM there is uncertainty on the part of citizens on what is really happening. “At this stage, I will say that the entire system, the entire roll out of all mechanisms necessary for the proper holding of a Local Government Elections in accordance to the Local Government Elections Act, the Local Democratic Organs Act, and powers vested in Guyana Elections Commission it is completely in shambles,” Forde stated.
He said, “It is a complete, total devastating mess. It is an embarrassment to the country, and it’s a shame that after so many months of the call for Local Government Elections, the first rodeo of the Chief Elections Officer has turned to be such a total embarrassment, such a total calamity for the Elections Commission. And what is more worrying is the silence, the silence of the Chairman of the Elections Commission,” said Forde who shadows the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.