Elections officer for the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Herman DeSouza has called the postponement of the union’s elections a major setback.
The elections were due to be run off yesterday but the High Court granted an interim injunction postponing the elections by nearly two weeks unless the executive council can produce the treasurer’s report for the past 12 years and the Auditor General’s report that was reportedly presented to it.
DeSouza told reporters yesterday that no elections activities have been carried out since the service of the injunction on the members of the GPSU’s executive council last Friday. As a result, he explained that he was forced to call union members across the country to notify them that the elections were postponed. “We have had to inform them via telephone to put everything on hold until the determination of the court,” DeSouza said.
The designated elections officer informed that the postponement of the elections was a setback because the union was prepared to proceed with the elections, according to the rules. He showed reporters the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) boxes, which he said was filled with paraphernalia to be used during the elections. He noted that quite a bit of energy and money had been spent towards the polls, but added that the union has had be prepared for the worst case scenario.
Stabroek News understands that approximately 3,000 eligible voters from across the country were slated to vote in the elections.
Gregory Gaspar, Chairman of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission branch of the union, moved to the High Court to have the Executive Council suspended until financial records can be presented.
The action, filed by attorney Nigel Hughes, asks the court to suspend and/or remove the council until the Treasurer’s reports and/or the Auditor General’s reports for 2004 to 2017 are prepared and tabled at the union’s Biennial Delegates’ Conference. The Conference, according to the GPSU’s rule book, signifies the “Supreme Authority of the Union,” and it is there that the body elected in this month’s elections will be installed.
