New political party, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), yesterday criticised the PPP and PNCR for their role in devising and perpetuating the current configuration of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) saying that this has resulted in undermining democracy in Guyana.
The party’s criticism came following GECOM’s approval of three motions on Tuesday including that it will advise President David Granger that the 90-day constitutional deadline for general elections cannot be met and that it will continue with its approved work plan for the year, including a national house-to-house registration process. In making the determination, the six GECOM commissioners, three each of whom were nominated by the PPP and the government side respectively, voted along political lines with GECOM Chairman James Patterson casting his vote twice with the coalition commissioners, resulting in a majority vote in favour of the motions.
In a press statement yesterday, ANUG said that the current “constitutional crisis” in the electoral process which faces Guyana is caused by the two parties’ manipulation of the constitutional system to “undermine meaningful democracy in Guyana and perpetuate their own dominance.”