THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP) believes that the electorate will at the appropriate time judge the issue of parliamentary collusion between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change  (AFC), but  a return to the polls  has to take into consideration the current ongoing registration process. This is according to PPP Executive Member and Presidential Adviser, Gail Teixeira, who on Monday last  met with media operatives at the party’s headquarters, Freedom House and said, “If and when there will be elections cannot be taken outside any consideration of the registration.”

Teixeira also noted that such a decision to return to the electorate is the prerogative of the ruling administration, save for a vote of ‘No Confidence’ in the government by the Parliamentary Opposition.

Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud, who joined his parliamentary colleague at the media engagement, also weighed in on the current registration process.

According to Persaud, the party has already lodged complaints with the Ministry of Home Affairs over what he calls ‘evidence of’ extremely long processing times for source documents at the General Registrar’s Office.

“The party is concerned that quite a number of persons out there have provided information and documentary evidence to suggest that they have applied for source documents and that the processing time in their judgment seems to be too long.”
The Local Government Minister, in urging “maximal participation” in the ongoing registration process, reminded that the party has dispatched scrutineers across the country and are actively engaging the electorate.

Executive Secretary of the PPP, Zulfikar Mustapha, who also addressed the matter of continuous registration with the media operatives on Monday last said that ever since the start of the current registration process, according to information received, over 3,000 persons have been added to the list of electors.

However, he lamented the fact that in the previous registration process, several thousand persons were disenfranchised through various avenues, including waiting until the last minute to engage in the process.

According to the PPP Executive Secretary too, many persons were left off of the list of electors at the last general election.

In keeping with the National Registration Act, the fourth cycle of Continuous Registration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) began in January last.

Persons who will be 14 years or older by June 30, 2013, and are Guyanese citizens by birth, descent, naturalization, or are citizens from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, are eligible for registration during this registration exercise.

According to GECOM, the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 makes it obligatory for persons who meet the registration criteria to apply for registration.

Further, it noted that the piece of legislation governing the registration process, also provides that persons eligible for registration to be prosecuted, fined or even sent to prison for failing or refusing to apply for registration.

Applications for registration can be made at any of the 27 GECOM Permanent Registration Offices across the country or at the relevant Temporary Registration Offices.

There are 49 established Temporary Registration Offices across the 10 administrative regions to make opportunities for registration easily accessible.
In order to apply for registration, eligible persons must be in possession of the necessary source documents to facilitate the process.
The registration exercise, according to GECOM, will come to an end on Saturday May 18, 2013.