A New and United Guyana (ANUG) today denounced a decision by GECOM to proceed with house to house registration saying it was contemptuous of the edict of the Caribbean Court of Justice that elections be held within three months.
A release by ANUG follows:
A New and United Guyana (ANUG) joins the nationwide call for the strict adherence to the CCJ’s decision for the government to respect and uphold Article 106(7) of the constitution which mandates elections be held within three months of the passage of a no-confidence motion. It has now been 7 months since the passage of the motion, which was deemed to have been successfully passed. It was made clear by the CCJ that there were no questions of credibility regarding the voters’ list on account of the existence of an effective process of continuous registration. GECOM’s insistence on House to House registration against the judgment of the CCJ as well as the advice of their own in-house Counsel appears to be a deliberate ploy to further delay elections. GECOM’s defiance was further strengthened by the late publication of the order dated June 11th in the Official Gazette, more than one month after it was drafted. This leads us to believe that the commission’s actions which are in contempt of court was deliberate and pre-meditated.
A scheme to deliberately violate the constitution of Guyana, in the absence of any necessary or practical reasons for doing so, apart from an objective to enable the ruling party to hold on to power for as long as possible, is an abuse of the commission’s power, done for an improper purpose, and as such, their actions are illegal. This has placed the leadership of the commission’s integrity under question, and in the absence of a Chairman, has stripped the nation of the confidence that the process is fair and in the interest of all parties. Where the commission is deemed to be compromised in the eyes of the public, where the commission does not enjoy public confidence, there are grave implications for national stability. We are asking that the President and Leader of the Opposition come to a quick decision on a Chairman of GECOM, and elections be called within the timeframe alluded to by the CCJ.
