The opposition APNU+AFC on Thursday met with diplomats from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) in an effort to highlight the issues it claims that the government is ignoring.
The meeting, which took place at the Sophia headquarters of the People’s National Congress, was as a result of a request by Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton.
US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch; UK High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller; Canadian Chargé d’Affaires, Caroline Mireault and the EU Chargé d’ Affaires, Evalina Melbardze, comprised the diplomatic delegation. The opposition was represented by Norton, PNCR Chairman Shurwayne Holder, Ganesh Mahipaul, Amanza Walton Desir, Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, AFC Chair Cathy Hughes and AFC General Secretary Sherod Duncan.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the issue of a “clean voters’ list” was raised with the diplomatic delegation.
“As you know the major issue for the Opposition is a clean voters’ list and was top of the discussion during the meeting. We made it known that for any election to take place, we must have a clean list first,” a source close to the Opposition said.
The APNU+AFC, since its defeat at the 2020 polls, has been contending that the voters’ list is padded with the names of dead and migrated persons. It has been consistently calling on the Guyana Elections Commis-sion (GECOM) to cleanse the list or embark on house-to-house registration to ensure that all the concerns are addressed.
GECOM has in turn pointed out that it must act within the realm of the laws in relation to the purging of names on the National Register of Registrants.
In a statement on August 26, the elections commission said that it is constrained by the provisions of the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 which dictates the procedures for the registration of eligible persons and likewise the removal of any such persons from the National Register.
