PPP/C to rebrand, revamp

… plans series of actions against GECOM, Surujbally  

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), fresh from its electoral defeat, has promised a major shake-up in its representation on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), in the Party and at the parliamentary levels.

The Party has also warned of actions against GECOM to remove Dr Steve Surujbally even as it prepared to file an elections petition over allegations that the just-concluded elections were rigged.

Former President Donald Ramotar

In a statement, the Party said that its Central Committee met on Tuesday, the first meeting of the Central Committee since the May 11 General and Regional Elections with the aim of reviewing some of the developments which occurred during and after the elections. The Committee said that based on the feedback from its Polling Agents and the Statements of Polls which it has received, it remains convinced that it won the majority of the votes in both the national and regional elections. “However, notwithstanding that support, the results of the election as declared by GECOM failed to reflect the true will of the Guyanese people,” the Party said.

In this regard, the Central Committee reiterated an earlier call made for the immediate resignation of Dr Steve Surujbally as Chairman of GECOM, even as it indicated that it was considering ways of improving its future representation at GECOM. To this end, the Committee said that it was convinced that there was a need for the Party to be strengthened both organisationally and ideologically, noting that it also planned to introduce some changes at the Party, parliamentary and GECOM levels.

“The Central Committee deliberated on ways to strengthen and rebrand the Party in order to be better positioned to defend the masses against the undemocratic imposition of the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition to the seat of Government,” the Committee said in the release.

Meanwhile, it was disclosed that the Party is in the process of organising several protest actions at all of the GECOM offices throughout the country in an effort to demand a total recount of all votes cast and the resignation of the GECOM Chairman. It was further disclosed via the release that the PPP was presently compiling evidence to file an elections petition with representation from local and international lawyers.

Multi-racial
The Central Committee further said that it has taken note of the false statements made by President David Granger that the APNU+AFC is a multi-racial party which encompassed representation from all ethnicities even as a large percentage of the population who were perceived to vote for the PPP/C were harassed and intimidated by APNU+AFC supporters.

The decision-making body for the Party said that it was recognised during the meeting that the election observers were duped into believing that the elections were free and fair, since they would have only observed the first stage of the electoral process and not the entire process as was required.

“The main aspect of the electoral process which was to observe the counting of ballots and the verification of Statements of Poll was left entirely in the hands of the GECOM officials many of whom are activists and supporters of the APNU+AFC coalition.

Dr Steve Surujbally

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee

The PPP/C, after serving 23 years as the ruling administration, lost the battle for executive power to the APNU+AFC coalition in the General and Regional Elections 2015, amid allegations of election rigging with the presence of fake Statements of Polls. As a result, PPP/C will become the minority party in Parliament with 32 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly.

With the PPP/C contemplating a change at the Party and the parliamentary levels, it is expected that some new and youthful faces that appeared on the PPP/C’s List of Candidates are possible Members of Parliament including Clinton Urling, Africo Selman, Charles Ramson, Mahendar Sharma, Romel Roopnarine and Alexei Ramotar.         

Some long-serving members of the PPP/C, however, are expected to return as MPs including General Secretary Clement Rohee, former Finance Minister Ashni Singh, former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall and former Chief Whip Gail Teixeira.