The People's Progressive Party (PPP) today issued a statement in which it countered claims of readiness made by GECOM Chairman Steve Surujbally. Surujbally's pronouncement came following a release by PPP nominated commissioners Mohamood Shaw, Dr Keshav Mangal, and Athmaram Mangar. The commissioners had echoed calls by their party which highlighted critical operational issues that must be resolved before GECOM can embark on any election.

In response the GECOM Chairman who is also a close friend of deputy leader of APNU Rupert Roopnarine insisted that the commission was “fully prepared and committed” to move into election mode with “immediacy” whenever the Local Government Minister issues an order after consulting with GECOM. The PPP however pointed to a case where in excess of 30,000 registered persons could be disenfranchised as they are yet to be placed in their relevant constituency list by GECOM. The party also listed several other critical undertakings which GECOM has so far failed to complete and which it said could result in the disenfranchisement of thousands if GECOM were to proceed with local government elections in its current state of unpreparedness.

Read the full PPP statement below:

The People’s Progressive Party has noted with grave concern, the public declaration by GECOM’s Chairman on its perceived readiness for Local Government Elections and the rubbishing of concerns raised by members of the Commission, nominated by the PPP. 
The Party has no doubt that Local Government Elections can be held in 180 days as claimed by the Chairman. The PPP nominated Commissioners and the PPP have a right to express our concerns over the integrity of the registration process and respect for the democratic rights of the Guyanese people. The PPP is not deviating from its historical position on the right of every Guyanese aged 18 years and over to vote. Its track record is indisputable in the fight for free and fair elections from the 1960s to the present; we do not wish to see a re-occurrence of incomplete or flawed lists which would lead to the disenfranchisement of voters. 

The PPP wishes to remind the Chairman of GECOM and the public that it was the PPP who fought for the extension of the claims and objections period in 2011 where 7000 voters were able to make claims and be added to the voters’ lists. The opposition was not supportive of this move. However if the extension had not been called for and implemented 7000 voters, mostly in the interior who were awaiting their birth certificates, would have been disenfranchised. 
It is important for the public to know that the PPP approached GECOM during the sixth cycle of continuous registration to send mobile units into severely affected areas at convenient days and times to residents to assist with transfers; this was partially supported by GECOM. However, as the June 21st deadline was approaching much was and still is left to be done. 
We wish to remind the public that this is the first in six cycles of registration since the 2011 elections that allowed persons to make transfers (change of address). The registration of persons is critical to any election, but moreso, in preparations for local government elections as the persons do not only need to be on the voters list but they need to be in the correct Municipality and or NDC list and further they must in the correct constituency list in the relevant list in order to be eligible to vote and to be able to stand as candidates in the elections.
We clearly reiterate our position that over 8,000 persons are yet to be transferred. This will lead to disenfranchisement of these persons under the new electoral system which will be introduced and used when next Local Government Elections are held. The conventional approach adopted by GECOM during the 6th Cycle of Continuous Registration as pointed out by the Chairman may have been adequate 10 years ago but with the several New Housing Schemes and changing economic and social life style of our people under the PPP/C administration, we beg to differ. 

Furthermore this issue is further complicated as there are 30,000 persons who have registered and are on the National Registration Register but who have not been placed in a constituency in the relevant Municipality or NDC where they reside. 
The PPP as a result wrote the Chairman of the GECOM requesting an extension to the sixth cycle of registration period to allow for those who have not transferred as yet to do so. However, GECOM denied the request. 
The PPP finds it curious that there was utter silence of the opposition political parties and other stakeholders when the request was made, publicized and denied. Our curiosity is further heightened when the only response from the opposition came from the APNU Chief Whip when the Commissioners dared to expose some of their concerns. The PPP is forced to wonder why the opposition is not concerned by the public statement of the Commissioners as it may affect some of their supporters. If not then the PPP's concerns appear to be well founded. 
The rather agitated public pronouncement made by the Chairman of the GECOM in response to the PPP and the Commissioners concerns expressed time and again over the demarcation of boundaries and the compilation of constituency lists is also disturbing. The GECOM knows that it has not completed constituency lists in 21 of the 65 NDCs and consequently it would not be able to produce an accurate and complete PVL for the next Local Government Elections if the date were announced by the subject Minister today. To state that GECOM has six months to do this is absurd as within that period a PVL has to be published and time lines given for claims and objections and submissions of candidate lists etc.

We wish to call on the GECOM to publicly state whether the Commission has completed placing all registrants thus far in each of the 580 plus Constituencies in the 65 NDCs and 106 Constituencies for the 6 Municipalities. This is the point that the Commissioners stated was not the case to the media on July 12th, 2014. 
Further, the Commission Members, nominated by the PPP on GECOM, are fully aware that the major starting block in preparation for Local Government Elections is the Claims and Objection Process; and to “kick start such a process” GECOM must have a Preliminary Voters’ List for each Constituency, sad to say the PLE is available for some constituencies and not for others and there is no indication that the outstanding lists will be available anytime soon. Hence, the concern about the disenfranchisement of voters! 
The PPP demands that more ground work and physical placement of persons onto their respective constituency lists be done now with the involvement of all major political stakeholders in order to expedite and to ensure that when a PVL is made public it will include all registered voters in their correct constituency. 
It is satisfying to note that GECOM has admitted that it has been receiving adequate budgetary allocations every year and the PPP is certain that allocations have been provided for PR and voters education. However, the PPP and we are certain we are not the only ones who have noticed how insignificant has been the PR and voters education so far on what would be a completely new hybrid local government electoral system. 
GECOM in accordance with the constitutional provisions and statutes has the responsibility to administer elections and educate the public on the new Local Government Electoral System. In fact, even the political parties and their membership will need to be educated on the new system and how to put up candidates on either proportional representational lists and or first past the post or constituency lists. This is a completely different system than those for general and regional elections.  
The Chairman is fully aware that there are critical vacancies existing at the GECOM that should be filled immediately by qualified and experienced persons through a transparent recruitment process.  
Surprising was the assurance of the GECOM that the IT department is functioning well and new entries were recently entered into the NRRDB. The PPP wishes to let all Guyanese know that this department is without a head, hence, we question the integrity of this process. 
The PPP will not be intimidated and or silence its voice with regard to the sanctity of the electoral process--- from registration to the final announcement ----we have fought too hard and long to restore the right to vote at free and fair elections to stop now.  

It is regrettable that the Chair of GECOM appears to not be interested in addressing the concerns raised and ensuring that these are no impediments to free and fair elections. His own retort to the Commissioners and the PPP excluded any reference to registrants not being placed on constituency lists. This may not be necessary in a general and regional elections but for local government elections it is absolutely crucial otherwise political parties' candidates and constituency candidates will find that they are not eligible to be made candidates under the Local Government Elections (Amendment Act 2009 and thousands of voters may also be disenfranchised. 
This is not a road the PPP not any Guyanese voter would like to go down again. 


The PPP calls on GECOM to:-

1. Provide the Guyanese people now with a detailed summary outlining the important aspects of their Readiness for Local Government Elections. Armed with this detailed information, deficiencies can be identified and the concerted efforts of all stakeholders can be properly focused.


2. Provide information on the status of the demarcation of constituency boundaries and inclusion of registrants in each of these constituencies for each NDC and Municipality immediately. And,

3. Provide their explicit Time bound Plan for holding Local Government Elections 

In conclusion, the GECOM must declare to the public and the political parties whether its intention to enter a Claims and Objection Period is aimed at preparing a list for Local Government or General and Regional elections.