PPP supporters yesterday once again took to the streets in front of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) offices in various parts of the country, calling for elections and for the cancellation of the ongoing house-to-house registration exercise.
Over the past three weeks, the opposition party has been holding weekly protests calling on the APNU+AFC government to honour the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that a no-confidence motion against it was successfully passed and elections must be called in accordance with the Constitution. The protesters have been calling for the naming of an elections date and have added a call for the cancellation of the voters’ registration process now being undertaken by GECOM.
Just around 10 am yesterday, groups of supporters with placards gathered in front of GECOM offices in the various regions and called for GECOM to engage in preparations for general and regional elections, which they said should be held by September 18th in keeping with the CCJ ruling on the passage of the no-confidence motion.
The PPP supporters spent just over an hour protesting in the scorching sun, shouting phrases, such as “GECOM must prepare for elections now!”, “House-to-House registration is illegal”, “Lowenfield said the list is clean” and “Granger must respect the Constitution.”
In front of GECOM’s Georgetown district office on Church Street, a group comprising just over 35 persons gathered. PPP Chief Scrutineer Zulfikar Mustapha, on the picketing line, told Stabroek News, they were demanding that GECOM immediately commence preparations for general and regional elections.
In the party’s view, Mustapha said, GECOM’s CEO Keith Lowenfield “is violating the Constitution and going against the highest court of our land. I had a meeting on 2nd of May as the Party Chief Scrutineer and I raised objections to house-to-house [registration] and proposed that GECOM embark on a claims and objections exercise to refresh the present voters’ list. At that meeting, Lowenfield said that he was awaiting the order from the court and as such, the house-to-house might be put aside. I am now astonished to see that he has started the house-to-house registration on 20th of July.”
He argued further that with no functioning commission in place, the house-to-house registration should not have commenced. “The commission has the authority to supervise this whole process. But it seems that Lowenfield has taken all this responsibility as CEO which he should not have done. I think he is taking instruction from somewhere and he is violating our Constitution,” Mustapha said.
He added that while this week’s protest took a different form, his party will continue to apply political pressure on the government until elections are called.
Former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who also participated in the protest, said that not only is his party calling for elections but also sensitising “all Guyanese of the illegal situation we are in.” According to him, the commencement of the registration exercise is a ploy to further delay the elections.
“We hope that our actions like this will motivate all Guyanese to fight. What we want in Guyana is systems that is fair and credible and written down system that we will all follow and comply with,” he said.
Former PPP minister Manzoor Nadir, who was also present, said he joined the call for elections since he does not want a repeat of history where elections were delayed in the country. He said that there was no objection to the 90 days period for snap elections when it was proposed during the constitutional reform process in 2000 and questioned why there is a fuss now.
Meanwhile, at the protest at the GECOM office in New Amsterdam, several hundred residents gathered to call for elections. Aliya Ally, 17, of Belvedere Village, Corentyne, said that she registered herself in 2017 and believes other youths would have done the same. “I don’t think APNU+AFC doing a good job right now, they are not respecting anything,” she added.
Kevin Harripersaud, 20, of Number 35 Village, Corentyne, said he was protesting to show his support and the registration exercise is “illegal.”
Shaneeza Baskh said, “Right now what is going on is illegal and the government need to step down because they should be caretakers…There is no need for a house-to-house. This is illegal what they are doing right now. The claims and objections process will help people to get registered.”
PPP Regional Super-visor Zamal Hussain said that the party is very dissatisfied with GECOM and the steps they are taking, “The house-to-house will take us pass the deadline for the elections in Guyana, so we are here to show our dissatisfaction that this particular exercise with house-to-house is not in keeping with the Caribbean Court of Justice ruling,” he said.
Regional Chairman David Armogan said that the protest was necessary since they allowed due process to be followed through the court system, “The CCJ ruled definitively and we have to respect the Constitution and hold the elections by September,” he said.
Both Hussain and Armogan stated that they have received information that the majority of residents in Region Six are refusing to comply with the house-to-house registration exercise.
