General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Amna Ally has refused to confirm or deny that APNU+AFC will be participating in a series of public meetings this weekend.
“If the Coalition has a programme and the Coalition executes it that is not anybody else’s business. It is our business,” she said when questioned, despite the fact that any such gathering would pose public health concerns in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PNCR is the leading member of APNU+AFC.
Yesterday, a document purporting to be a schedule of meetings of the APNU+AFC Coalition in Region Two began circulating on Facebook.
The schedule identifies a series of de facto ministers and other coalition candidates as speakers. De facto minister Annette Ferguson is scheduled to speak in Charity in the morning and Suddie in the afternoon while her colleague Simona Broomes speaks in Dartmouth and Queenstown. Ganesh Mahipal, Gary Best, Haimraj Rajkumar, Winston Felix, George Norton and Dawn Hastings-Williams are also to speak.
It is not clear whether these are public meetings but even if they are “private group meetings” these still remain prohibited by national COVID-19 emergency measures.
According to the latest version of these measures published on July 16 – no person shall host, attend, or visit a meeting of a fraternal society, private or social club or civic association or organization. Additionally, persons are compelled to remain within the confines of their home or yard unless absolutely essential.
A political party as a civic organization cannot legally hold a meeting. The incumbent APNU+AFC has been regularly flouting the COVID-19 guidelines by holding public meetings and protests.
In June former parliamentarian Barbara Pilgrim; Director of Health, Jevaughn Stephens; and several supporters of APNU+AFC were charged with breaching COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings on June 18.
Additionally, protests on CARICOM Day resulted in a commitment from the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force to “take action.”
Supporters had gathered at Friendship and Plaisance on the East Coast of Demerara, Mandela Avenue in Georgetown, Agricola on the East Bank of Demerara and in Linden to argue that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) had no jurisdiction in the elections-related case on which it was scheduled to rule.
This newspaper reached out to several divisional commanders who said that the police dispersed the gatherings and while no arrests were made, appropriate actions would be taken against those who were involved in the exercise.
Commander of Region 4(A) Phillip Azore told Stabroek News that following the warning, the groups took some time but eventually dispersed.
“They were asked to disperse under Section 1 of the COVID-19 regulations which states that they should remain in the confines of their home and yards,” Azore said.
These incidents have however not been a deterrent to supporters who continue to gather most notably outside of State House each time the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) holds a meeting.
