Up to press time yesterday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was reviewing over 100 symbols submitted for approval by political parties, voluntary groups and individual candidates wishing to contest Local Government Elections (LGE).
Deputy Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud relayed to Stabroek News that the total should be available today and the commission is likely to put out a statement.
He said that since there has been no LGE under the current system he could not say whether the number of symbols was in line with what should be simply because there were no expectations.
Across Guyana there are 62 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and nine municipalities inclusive of the three newest towns: Bartica, Lethem and Mabaruma.
Critics have said that GECOM’s outreach and edification programmes have been problematic. One of the biggest criticisms has been that the public outreach needed to be more vigorous as LGE have not been held in Guyana since 1994. Not only will a large portion of the population be unfamiliar with the process but they may also be unaware of the current information sessions. The deadline for symbol submission was January 5 and GECOM in a statement the day prior said that as the deadline was finite, any entity wishing to contest after that date was no longer eligible.
GECOM will now have 14 days to either approve or reject the symbols that were submitted. Persaud noted that the commission did not envisage that any symbols would be rejected but said that that was to be determined by the commission within the 14-day period. The commission will also have the authority to decide the grace period should any symbols be rejected, for resubmission.
Nomination Day for the polls is Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Any List of Candidates submitted by any political party, voluntary group or individual candidates on Nomination Day without the required pre-approved symbol will be deemed defective.
The PPP has been critical of GECOM in relation to public education. In mid-December the party through its General Secretary Clement Rohee said “The PPP is deeply concerned over the lack of public confidence and interest in the voter public education campaign launched by GECOM particularly its community outreach activities costing some $93 million.”
He said reports from supporters have suggested that as few as five persons have shown up to information sessions in the 72 local authority areas.
Rohee maintained that “It is GECOM’s responsibility to excite and seek creative ways of getting the people interested in local government elections.”
While the political parties are criticizing the commission, stakeholders are also looking at the major political parties to showcase their various candidates in the public sphere which has not happened. Additionally neither the PPP/C nor the APNU+AFC governing coalition has made any significant moves to inform constituencies of campaign strategies. Local Government Elections are to be held on March 18, 2016.
