The AFC has written to the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Dr Steve Surujbally requesting information on a possible date for the holding of general elections.
According to the AFC, the party holds GECOM responsible for ensuring that the upcoming elections are held on or before the constitutionally due date of December 28th 2011.
In its letter, released to the media yesterday, the AFC asked Surujbally to “indicate the earliest possible date for elections based on your work plan,” in light of the completion of the recently reopened Claims and Objections exercise.
The party stated that, “not only do we believe that it is in the interest of the Guyanese public to know this, we also believe that it is a right in any democratic society for citizens to be kept informed on matters of such national significance”
The AFC also reminded Dr Surujbally that a December 2011 elections date will not be warmly embraced by the business and Christian communities. It noted too that, “there are also rumours of a small special interest group working behind the scenes to create conditions that will prevent elections from taking place for at least another year.”
According to the AFC, it has been told by both GECOM and the administration that the reopening of the claims and objections exercise will not jeopardise the holding of elections within the constitutionally specified time frame of December 28, 2011.
The AFC stated that it is aware of GECOM’s previous work plan, which would have allowed elections to be held as early as October 17th 2011; It added that based on its estimations as regards the work plan, elections are now possible by the 14th November 2011.
The AFC stated that that there are several processes which needed to be carried out sequentially after the end of the Claims and Objections exercise and it insisted that they be expedited without delay.
The party listed several processes in addition to a timeline within which it estimates each process will be completed. These include the processing of CD with fingerprints of electors to be dispatched for cross-matching analysis, and undertaking field investigation of duplicates possibly identified in this exercise. In addition, it listed the preparation and submission of report on investigations of duplicates from cross-matching, the commission of approved transactions from findings/reports from investigations of duplicates, production of a draft Revised List of Electors (RLE) for checking by registration officers. The party also provided an estimated timeline for the printing, cross-checking, verification and posting of the RLE as well as the certification of the Official List of Electors days.
