-says PPP/C, PNCR satisfied with pace of registration
The first list of registrants from the house-to-house exercise is on the verge of being prepared for internal use by registration officers prior to distribution to parliamentary parties and GECOM says the PPP/C and the PNCR are satisfied with the pace of the registering
According to a GECOM press release, it met with the PPP/C on April 1 and the PNCR on April 15 on the registration exercise. The PPP/C team comprised General Secretary Donald Ramotar, Chief Scrutineer K Ramanah, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy and Z Mustapha and the PNCR representatives included Party Leader Robert Corbin, General Secretary Oscar Clarke, Chief Scrutineer Amna Ally and Lance Carberry.
The parties said they were satisfied with the pace of the registration exercise.
The PPP/C was concerned at the non-acceptance of the existing national identification card as a valid source document for registration. It was also troubled by the Commission’s non-acceptance of assumed names by which potential registrants are known; other than those documented on birth certificates, and the difficulties associated with accessing the said certificates, particularly for persons in hinterland areas.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally said the Commission’s decision to reject the ID card as a valid source document is linked to the integrity of the National Register of Registrants that is to be established from the current exercise. He noted that in some previous registration exercises, some persons had been registered after providing baptismal certificates, letters from priests, elders, village captain/Toshaos and justices of the peace, among others. He said these persons were then registered in the National Register of Registrants and that this had brought into question the validity of the Official List of Electors used in the 2006 polls.
The statement also said that during the meeting with the PNCR, the party queried whether the commission’s decision on the unacceptability of an ID card as a source document still stood along with the intention to produce new ID cards after the end of the house-to-house exercise. GECOM said “Dr Surujbally gave the assurance that the Commission’s decisions on these matters were still current”.
The PNCR also asked about GECOM’s intentions as regard displaying monthly publications of the list of registrants. In response, Chief Election Officer Gocool Boodoo said to date the Secretariat had not displayed the list “because of the need for compliance with the multi-tiered quality control measures.” However, he gave assurances that the “first list of registrants was on the verge of being prepared for internal use by all Registration Officers.” Boodoo also said electronic copies of this list would be shared with the parliamentary parties, as well as the lists of the particulars of new registrants to be added.
According to GECOM both parties expressed concerns about initial teething problems and episodes of non-cooperation on the part of Temporary Registration Staff and Scrutineers. They were also troubled by inaccuracies in the documentation of registrants’ particulars resulting in revisits to the residences of the relevant applicants for registration. However, the PNCR representatives conceded that the problems their scrutineers encountered were easily resolved through consultations with the CEO and that instances of inaccuracies were far less than what obtained at the start of the exercise as efficiency improved with practice.
GECOM said it met with the parties on its own initiative and to reinforce its commitment to transparency and inclusivity.
