The PPP is calling on the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) to publish the names and addresses of all elections staff that have been hired.
The party’s General Secretary Clement Rohee said that while the party was not casting aspersions on the commission’s hiring procedures the best way for Gecom to avoid suspicion was to be transparent. Rohee said at the party’s weekly press briefing held at Freedom House yesterday that by publishing names and addresses to would allow for “public vetting” and “confidence building.”
Rohee said the party was calling on “Gecom to publish the name and addresses of all those who have been recruited and trained thus far especially for the positions of returning officers, deputy returning officers, elections clerk, [and] clerical assistants.”
When asked by the media if this was a regular procedure the party’s general secretary said publishing names and addresses of hired staff was in the best interest of Gecom.
He said the public had a right to know the persons being recruited to the various posts. “Further, as a major political stakeholder and the oldest political party in Guyana, the PPP was never officially informed by Gecom [of] its intentions to recruit and train polling day staff nor were we involved in any way, hence our concerns. The party was only made aware of this through the media,” Rohee stated.
Rohee said that previously poor training of staffers had led to “an East Bank Demerara polling station in a traditional PPP stronghold area recording over 20 rejected ballots.” He continued that voter education was critical in preventing this from happening in another election.
Rohee accused the commission of creating confusion, stating that Gecom still refuses to acknowledge the various discrepancies highlighted in the continuous registration cycle and the compiling of the Official List of Electors.
He noted that while the party had concerns with the commission’s work the PPP supported Gecom in commencing the 7th cycle of continuous registration. The move by Gecom was contested by the opposition parties.
In a joint statement, A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change on Friday said the move would allow the government more time to stall the holding of general elections.
It is unclear whether the decision to hold a new registration cycle was a unanimous decision by Gecom. However, considering that the sixth cycle of continuous registration was held only in March this year, critics will see it as another in a series of tactics at delaying general elections, the most recent being the prorogation of Parliament.
Meanwhile the party’s constant criticisms of the commission has drawn criticism with observers stating that the PPP was setting a stage to contest elections results, whether local or general, should they not be in favour of the ruling party.
Chairman of Gecom Steve Surujbally had previous told Stabroek News that he was aware of the PPP’s views and that the party’s general secretary would write to him but not before ventilating the party’s various qualms in the media first.
The commission had held a press briefing on September 4 to deal with the many criticisms being expressed by the PPP. Then the Chairman had debunk-ed claims that the list was padded and gave accurate data on the number of dead persons on the list while explaining that the process by which persons can be removed, was done with the cooperation of the General Register Office (GRO), which falls under the guidance of the Home Affairs Ministry.
