Its record of corruption should be enough to cost the ruling PPP/C the May 11th general elections but on the other hand APNU+AFC is yet to articulate solutions for problems facing the country, political analyst Christopher Ram says.
The PPP/C’s 22-year reign has been marred by crime, corruption and poor governance and should it win the upcoming polls, the party would see the victory as blanket approval for what it has done before and continue to operate in a like manner, Ram warned. He and fellow commentator Raymond Gaskin addressed several national issues as they wrapped up their ‘Post May 11, 2015 – Challenges and Choices’ discussion series at the National Library yesterday.
However, should the APNU+AFC alliance gain victory at the polls, the alliance would face a lot of challenges as there are not a lot of persons on the grouping’s list of representatives who have experience in public administration or managing a major entity, Ram said. The political analyst was scathing of the alliance, which he said has not articulated solutions to deal with the issues facing the country. It is “shocking,” he declared, that the alliance has not yet issued its manifesto.
“I think the learning curve is going to be very steep. They better get their act together,” he declared. He said that the problems faced by a new administration would be many but are not insurmountable.
Among the issues discussed yesterday were the voters list as it has been disclosed that since the 2011 general elections, the number of eligible voters increased by 95,290 or 20 per cent. The Official List of Electors (OLE) for the 2011 general elections had 475,496 electors while the Revised List of Electors for the 2015 general elections has 570,786 electors.
Gaskin said that the increase “sounds very excessive to me” and noted that the 2012 census showed that the 15 – 19 years age group comprises 66 000 Guyanese. He said that this would be around 13 000 persons per annum attaining the age of 18. “I would have to say (the list) is wrong…it cannot be explained,” he said.
He noted that Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Dr Steve Surujbally has said that there were 37,355 registered persons (14 years and older) who would not have been 18 years of age at the time of publication of the 2011 OLE, but now qualify as electors. However, Gaskin said, Surujbally did not explain where the remaining increase came from. He noted that the 2012 census showed a reduction in the population.
Surujbally had cited outreach and more frequent registration exercises, increased issuing of birth certificates, civic and voter education, motivated citizenry as well as movement of citizens from often isolated or remote areas to more urban settings as likely reasons for the increase in registration.
The GECOM chairman should have given a breakdown of the numbers, Gaskin said while adding that Surujbally has not been able to explain the 570,786 electors on the list. “He has not been able to explain it and I doubt that anyone can… it’s wrong,” he said.
Ram also added that the numbers just don’t make sense. But, he noted, commentators and the wider public have been slow in responding and the political parties were derelict and negligent. “These concerns ought to have been expressed much earlier,” he asserted.
In terms of its impact on the elections, he said that the APNU+AFC can try to ensure that every polling station is covered and he hopes that international observers pay attention to this particular problem.
Gaskin said that he believes that the names on the list are real people but suggested that some are below the voting age and others are persons such as Chinese who have come into the country.
Ram said that all critics and commentators have to accept some responsibility because the issue was not raised earlier.
