A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has written the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commis-sion (GECOM) Dr. Steve Surujbally requesting further verification via the hard copies of the Statements of Poll.
In a letter to the Chairman of GECOM, APNU Election Agent, Joseph Harmon called on GECOM to make good on its promise to facilitate the further verification of the hard copies of the documents, should they find it necessary.
“We have now had the opportunity to conduct a verification exercise based on a comparison between the SOPs provided by you on CD and those in our possession provided by our polling agents,” the letter dated December 30, 2011, stated.
“After a full and careful examination, we found it impossible to reconcile the two sets of SOPs since in a significant number of instances the SOPs are not identical, which, you would concede, they ought to be. Consequently, we are renewing our original request to access the original hard copies of the SOPs in GECOM’s possession,” the letter said.
“It is our understanding that you have expressed a willingness to provide space at GECOM’s premises to enable us to carry out further verification, this time with the hard copies, yours and ours. Kindly let us know as soon as possible when we may avail ourselves of this facility,” he said.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Public Relations Officer of GECOM Vishnu Persaud said that it may be some days before GECOM makes a decision on the request since the commissioners are not scheduled to meet until later this month.
But he said that he does not foresee the Commission refusing such a request. Further, he said that he is unsure whether Chairman Dr. Surujbally had seen the letter as yet.
Following the November 28 general elections, APNU had declared that it needed to verify that the SOPs in the possession of its polling agents were the ones that the Guyana Elections Commission had used in its tabulation of votes. GECOM did not yield to this and APNU-led protests followed. After a protest in which several APNU protesters were shot with rubber bullets by police, GECOM at a meeting on December 6 agreed to hand over electronic copies of the SOPs to political parties.
GECOM has said it was not bound by law to supply the SOPs to political parties. Party agents at polling stations on election day would have been given a copy of the SOPs that GECOM has in its possession.
Speaker
Meanwhile, there has been no word on the date of the next meeting of the parties for the purpose of deciding on the Speaker of the National Assembly for the next Parliamnent.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Leader of APNU David Granger said that the discussions to decide on the post of Speaker of the National Assembly should not degenerate into a personality contest. APNU and the AFC have been at odds over the finalizing of the choice for Speaker, as both parties are holding fast to their positions as the days to the commencement of the new Parliament count down.
Commenting on the length of time it is taking to decide on the Speaker, Granger said that the choice for Speaker must be someone who has the trust of the people of Guyana to carry out the Parliamentary agenda. He said that it should not be based on personality since the person must be able to manage the affairs of the Parliament. “It must be a person in whom the country is satisfied can manage the affairs of Parliament,” said Granger.
He said that the majority of voters at the last elections did not cast their ballot for the PPP/C hence, the Opposition parties wanted to make sure that the choice of Speaker is in accordance with the will of the population.
Granger said that a meeting planned between him and President Donald Ramotar to meet did not take place last week. He said that the parties are awaiting Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon to set a new time for the meeting. He said that all the parties were to have submitted agendas for the meeting but no new time has been set.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, the Alliance For Change’s Khemraj Ramjattan said that he was unaware of the next scheduled meeting between the parties.
In an earlier interview, Ramjattan had stated that his party was steadfastly in support of its choice for Speaker Moses Nagamootoo and he debunked the arguments that Granger put forward in opposition to Nagamootoo as the choice for Speaker.
