The opposition PPP today denounced claims by a member of the governing coalition, the PNCR that credible elections are only possible with house-to-house registration (see story below).
In a statement, the PPP said the Constitution of Guyana must be respected and elections must be held within the three-month timeframe stipulated by Article 106 (7) of the Constitution.
An abridged version of the PPP statement follows:
The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) continues to peddle lies to the Guyanese people. The PNCR, via a missive issued on Friday (July 5, 2019), claimed that credible General and Regional Elections can only be assured if there is a new national house-to-house registration. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) denounces the continued peddling of such falsehoods.
The Party wishes to remind that it was none other than the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, who, on February 5, 2019, articulated a position that exposes the PNCR’s positon as completely misleading. The Chief Elections Officer in his comments, which were reflected in a February 6, 2019 Stabroek News report, was clear that a period of Claims and Objections can refresh the validity of an already “clean” Voters’ List.
Mr. Lowenfield had said: “We can move toward the conduct, as I said yesterday, of a claims and objections exercise of a duration to be specified by the Commission so that we can arrive at a list…claims allow for the youthful to be added and Objections for the deceased to be removed based on the submission made by the GRO [Guyana Register Office]. Other deaths not reported to GRO, when we are in the field, people will come to us and say Jagmohan next door died and we want his name to be removed.”
That the PNCR would go as far as touting falsehoods as “facts” about the Voters’ List is appalling. The PNCR claims that there are names of dead persons who are on the Voters List. The FACT is
that this can be addressed without a new national house-to-house registration.
The PNCR claims that there are names of non-existent persons who are on the list. This is a blatant lie. No such complaint was raised by the PNCR in the last several elections held in Guyana. Additionally, the use of biometrics (fingerprints, etc.) prevents multiple registration of one person under different names.
The PNCR claims that there are thousands of young people who recently became 18-years-old and are not on the list. The Party highly doubts that thousands of young persons are not registered, given that persons who attained the age of 14-years, as of October 31, 2018, were registered during the last Continuous Registration Cycle. However, the FACT is that a Claims and Objections process allows any person who is 18-years-old to be registered as a first time voter.
The PNCR’s rantings about a “corrupt” Voters’ List “created by the PPP”, during the years the PPP/C held office, is a transparent ploy, since it was the very Voters’ List that was used without complaint at several elections: for the 2011 General and Regional Elections where the PNCR-led APNU, together with AFC, secured a majority in the National Assembly; for the 2015 General and Regional Elections where the APNU+AFC Coalition Government won government; and for the last two Local Government Elections.
The PNCR will not be allowed to mislead the Guyanese people. The PNCR’s track record with Elections that are not fair, nor credible is one that is known internationally…
The Party stresses that new national house-to-house registration is a ploy to delay constitutionally due General and Regional Elections. A Claims and Objections exercise can address all of the issues that are being raised as ‘justifications’ for new national house-to- house registration, since it will: Allow any eligible Guyanese who has reached the age of 18- years-old to be registered if their name is not on the Voters’ List; Allow any eligible Guyanese to get a transfer from one voting district to another, in the event that they changed their place of residence; Allow any eligible Guyanese to do a name change; Allow for the removal of a dead person from the Voters’ List; and Allow for objections to be made to the name of someone not eligible to be on the Voters List.
The PPP maintains that the Constitution of Guyana must be respected and elections must be held within the three-month timeframe stipulated by Article 106 (7) of the Constitution.
The APNU+AFC Coalition Government must stop engaging in delay tactics and call elections now.
