“Norton cyan bully me or Irfaan so he wants to bully Claudette, a woman”- Jagdeo

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Former Member

“Norton cyan bully me or Irfaan so he wants to bully Claudette, a woman”- Jagdeo

By Editor ---August 20, 2022 --- 0 --- Source --- Guyana Standard --- https://www.guyanastandard.com...ette-a-woman-jagdeo/

Aubrey Norton, the “small timer”, who managed to secure the seat as Leader of the Opposition is not going to have his way. Norton announced that there must be a new voters’ list before any other election can be held. Well, this will not happen. Norton will have to put his tail between his legs.

That is the condescending manner in which Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo spoke yesterday as he essentially declared that the government will not bend to facilitate any of the requests already made by the Leader of the Opposition regarding elections.

Dr Jagdeo took that position, amongst others, as he hosted a press conference at the Author Chung Convention Center.

According to Dr Jagdeo, Norton and his team have no genuine interest in securing a strong democracy and therefore any recommendation made under the guise of wanting to strengthen the election process can easily be identified as a thinly veiled attempt to have a repeat of 2020 elections shenanigans.

Dr Jagdeo said that the People’s Progressive Party will not be bullied into making changes that can easily result in litigation.

Speaking specifically about the request to remove the names of Guyanese who are living overseas from the Voters’ List, Dr Jagdeo said that that is a recipe for disaster. He said that all it would take is one non-resident Guyanese launching a court preceding and it can spell problems for the PPP- government post 2025.

The Vice President recalled that the PPP already felt the brunt of acting contrary to the provisions of the constitution. In this regard, he pointed to the Esther Perreira case.

Decades ago, the PPP and PNC both voted for the use of ID cards for voting. However, following the 1997 elections, Perreira, a PNC supporter, filed an elections petition challenging the validity of the elections on several grounds, one of which was that the elections were unlawfully conducted. It was argued that the provision made in Election Laws (Amendment) Act 1997 that a voter must produce a voter identification card to be able to vote, was unconstitutional because it added a qualification to vote which was not countenanced by the constitution.

As a result, the term of the PPP government was truncated by some two years.

Jagdeo said that the PPP will not be bullied into supporting changes that it knows can come back to haunt it.

He said that in addition to sticking to the rights of the people already enshrined in the law, the PPP will also strengthen existing electoral laws for the benefit of a strong democracy.

He said that with the impending amendments, no Chief Elections Officer (CEO) will have the sort of discretionary power that was wielded by Keith Lowenfield.

Also, manuals for the conduct of election will be issued three months ahead of elections and polling places will have to be identified “long before” election day.

Further, the Vice President noted that statements of poll will have to be posted on the Guyana Elections Commission’s (Gecom) website.

He emphasized that the amendments will include jailtime for elections offences.

Dr. Jagdeo said that the PPP will not be derailed or bullied into doing anything less. He stressed “Norton cyan bully me, he cyan bully (President Ali) Irfaan. He wants to bully Claudette (GECOM Chair), a woman, that’s all he is good for.”

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Former Member

“I will resign when I am ready” – GECOM chair unfazed by opposition criticism

Aug 17, 2022 News -- Source -- https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...pposition-criticism/

Kaieteur News – Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Retired Claudette Singh has said that the GECOM is moving swiftly towards Local Government Elections (LGE) in the face of claims by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) of a bloated elections list and calls for her resignation.

Justice (Ret’d) Singh was at the time responding to reporters on the sidelines of the swearing-in of the newly appointed Commissioner of GECOM, Clement Rohee on Tuesday.

In fact, Justice Singh appeared unfazed by the allegations of the Opposition that she favours the Government in her decisions.

GECOM Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh

“I am not aware that I do something like that, anything I do, I do in accordance with the law. I try, as a former judge, I always try to uphold the rule of law but there will be criticisms,” said Justice Singh.

She continued, “if you sit on the bench and make an adverse decision, the party who loses would say you’re biased, you take a bribe whatever but that’s it so there’s always a way you can criticise a decision, that’s up to them.”

The GECOM Chair also responded to claims by the Opposition that the electoral list is bloated and should be used in the elections.

She noted that GECOM is in its continuous registration process and heading to its claims and objections exercise, in anticipation of the Local Government Elections (LGE) which is expected to be held by year-end.

“If the list is bloated, well, we are moving now to claims and objections and people would have a chance to object to who is not supposed to be there,” she said.

She stressed that the names on the list were legally registered and the claims and objections exercise would allow persons to object to any irregularities.

In a statement, GECOM announced that the claims and objections exercise will commence on August 22, 2022 in accordance with Order No. 35 of 2022 made under the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08, to produce an Official List of Electors (OLE). This exercise will be conducted at all the GECOM permanent Registration Offices in the 10 administrative regions.

During the claims and objections period, any person who will be 18 years and older by the October 31, 2022, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a claim on or before September 11, 2022 to be included on the OLE, providing that he/she was never previously registered.

According to the Commission, persons desirous of making a Claim to be included in the OLE are required to visit the GECOM registration office responsible for their area of residence with the applicable source document(s) such as original birth certificate, valid passport, adoption certificate, or naturalisation certificate/certificate of registration to be registered for inclusion.

Existing registrants are advised to check the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) posted at two prominent buildings in their respective electoral division/subdivision, at the registration office responsible for their areas of residence, at GECOM’s Head Office or on GECOM’s website at www.gecom.org.gy to verify the accuracy of their registration information.

In this regard, persons who are required to update their registration records such as changes or corrections to their names and occupation, or to apply for a transfer in relation to their addresses are advised that those transactions would also be facilitated during this exercise. The relevant source documents such as an original marriage certificate, deed poll with birth certificate, or a new birth certificate reflecting the changes must be presented in the case of an application for a change or correction.

8/20/224:11 PM