The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has granted the Liberty and Justice Party’s (LJP) request to replace its councillor for the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
The request was granted within a week after the required documents were submitted to GECOM by the party.
GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward yesterday told Stabroek News that the request was processed and the decision was communicated to the party.
The swearing in of the council now lies in the hands of the Regional Executive Officer, Mitzy Campbell, to convene a statutory meeting.
Representative of the LJP’s list, John Flores, yesterday told this newspaper that a meeting should be scheduled for next week. He noted that the replacement candidate is Claris Francisco, who was listed as an alternate on the Regional List of Candidates for District Eight.
The LJP took the decision to replace Councillor Jimmy James after claiming he was ill and would not be able to travel to RDC meetings due to COVID-19 restrictions.
James had however, refuted claims that he is medically unfit to travel. He said that it was because of his refusal to give his vote to the PPP/C for Chairmanship of the region that the party sought to remove him.
On this note Leader of the LJP, Lenox Shuman, had responded “Mr James who has the respect of the LJP’s executive, no longer enjoys the confidence of the LJP and by his own admission is not aligned to the LJP, is no longer willing to serve in the capacity as an LJP representative, and is aligned to the PNC.”
Saying that he wished to clear up “misunderstandings” surrounding the Region Eight Regional Democratic Council, Shuman said that in September of 2020, GECOM requested that the LJP “resubmit” its candidates for Region Eight to sit on the RDC.
The members of the country’s nine other RDCs were sworn in at the end of September. Due to the delay, main opposition APNU+AFC has accused the governing PPP/C of delaying the swearing in of the RDC in order to lay the groundwork to win the chairmanship of the region when votes are cast among councillors.
The LJP holds the balance of power on the council, since the government and main opposition coalition APNU+AFC, each hold seven seats. The vote is therefore crucial to the elections of Chair and Vice Chair of the Council.
Two meetings that were slated to be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre were cancelled by Campbell. In the first instance the meeting was cancelled after some councillors tested positive for COVID-19. In the second, Campbell had claimed that two of the 15 councillors “had emergencies”.
Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, during a press conference had said that the matter has been dragging on for too long. He noted that the People’s Progressive Party claims it has the interest of the Indigenous people at heart but here is a situation where the people are suffering. “Prove to the Guyanese people that you have their interest and allow the representative of the people to represent their interest,” he had challenged.
