Why not bring forward the date of elections?

Dear Editor

It is sickening how the President and the Minister of Education have dismissed concerns about elections being held on the same day as CXC examinations.

The Minister of Education is quoted in the Guyana Times of January 23 as saying “It’s only in this country you see this nonsense being perpetuated, in other countries people eat, sleep and go about their daily lives at elections time.

“Maybe the Opposition isn’t ready for elections so they want a new date or maybe people want more time to study, I don’t know.”

While most of us would wish that elections would be part of the normal part of being in a democracy, they are not. The elections period is tense. In November 2011, elections day was a ‘national holiday’. Some schools use the same space for examinations as are used for the polls. Why impose additional stress on the school administration? Do any of the part-time Gecom staff also function as examination supervisors? If the Minister of Education and others are ready for elections, why not bring forward the date then, to before exams if you are suspicious of the motives of those who want the children writing exams to do so free from any additional tension?

The President could have chosen February 23 as elections day. What better way to celebrate republicanism than by engaging in voting peacefully as part of the carnival?

Yours faithfully,

Vidyaratha Kissoon