Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has responded to President David Granger’s March 20 letter and rejected the November timeline for elections.
After seeking the advice of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Head of State officially informed Jagdeo that he will name a date for general and regional elections “shortly.”
However, Jagdeo in response made it known that the November timeline set out by GECOM is “totally unacceptable.”
As such, the Opposition Leader reminded the President that “at midnight tonight (March 21, 2019) his Government becomes illegal.”
Justice (Rt’d) James Patterson, the chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), wrote President David Granger, informing him that GECOM can run off elections in late November, which will be eight months after the expiration of the constitutional deadline.
With the passage of the No Confidence motion on December 21, the constitution dictates that elections be held in three months unless an extension is agreed to by two-thirds in the National Assembly.
The Government has denied that the country would head into a constitutional crisis after March 21, and the President has been adamant that his proclamation of an elections date is dependent on the advice he receives from GECOM.
In his letter to the President, the chairman of GECOM pointed to the need for house to house registration and said the Commission’s budget was being utilised for that purpose.
Jagdeo said there is no need for house to house registration since the current list was not challenged by the very parties for use in Local Government elections a few months ago.
