The Guyana Elections Com-mission (GECOM) is yet to decide whether it will embark on preparations for the local government polls before establishing a new voters’ list.

At the commission’s first press conference for the year yesterday Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally said the commission had taken note of the call from the PNCR-1G for a new voters’ list emerging from a full house-to-house registration for the next local government elections.

This was also a concern raised by the local and foreign observer groups at the 2006 polls.

In this regard, Surujbally said he and Chief Election Officer Gocool Boodoo have been meeting political parties represented in Parliament with a view to ascertaining which immediate undertaking they would prefer. He said that for the sake of transparency, it was imperative that the commission took into consideration the inputs from political parties, who were prepared to review their original positions on the matter. However, it seems as though the commission may go the way of giving immediate priority to house-to-house registration.

“GECOM, both the commission and the technical staff in the secretariat are tending towards the preference of embarking on a house-to-house registration which would include the registration of eligible 14-year-olds