The main opposition coalition APNU says that it is “encouraged” by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) preparations for general elections which are going to be held next year.
APNU met with GECOM this afternoon on elections.
“We had a very full exchange with the elections commission and we were interested in the various processes including the continuous registration process, all of the Election Day preparations, the question of training, so we went through a fairly full agenda to get some indication of the state of GECOM’s readiness to, in fact, administer an election,” chairman of APNU Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine told reporters.
“They answered everything that we asked and I think we had a full and comprehensive review of the processes in which GECOM is engaged,” he said.
He said that they were encouraged by what they were told. “What we’ve heard I think is encouraging. I think that they have gone a long way,” he said while adding that they also have concerns. He identified these as the fact that it is taking GECOM “a very long time” to get the full complement of people applying for Election Day duty. This raises the question of training Roopnaraine said adding that the commission is still very short of the total number of persons it is going to need for Election Day work and that is a matter of concern to APNU.
Amid political deadlock and facing growing criticism over his decision to suspend parliament, President Donald Ramotar last Saturday announced that he will call general elections but declined to name a date, saying that he will “announce further steps” in this direction early next year.
