Guyana Elections 2020

Members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) say that Chairman, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh has been called upon to make a definitive decision on the use of the date collected during the recent House to House exercise (HtH).

Four years ago, Jai Narine Singh Jr, well known as Don Singh, was feverishly battling on social media to remove the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) from government but today he is part of the Civic fold, part of the “bridge” between the rigidly structured and controlled PPP and civil society.

As Guyana’s political season enters its beginning stages, a plethora of new political parties are coming forward to present their programmes to the electorate and seeking its support.

Former army Chief-of-Staff Rear Admiral (ret’d) Gary Best has downplayed the addition of retired Brigadier Mark Phillips to the ranks of the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), while saying the David Granger-led governing coalition is currently unmatched.

Businessman Robert Badal today issued a statement explaining his rationale for starting a new political party saying that successive administrations since independence have failed to address the challenges of the day.

Surprising the Alliance for Change (AFC), which he once supported, businessman Robert Badal plans to run for the presidency of Guyana with chartered accountant Nigel Hinds as his Prime Ministerial (PM) candidate in a soon-to-be-launched party called Change Guyana.

Businessman Robert Badal and Chartered Accountant Nigel Hinds are launching a political party called Change Guyana.

The Citizenship Initiative, Guyana’s newest political party, launched last evening promising an unwavering posture in demanding constitutional reform, campaign financing legislation and shared governance, while shunning any possibility of coalescing with the major parties.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has accepted assistance from the Canadian Government in the form of their former Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Jean-Pierre Kingsley, who will provide GECOM Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh with advice on best practices on operational matters.

The Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) is to engage foreign assistance towards establishing a mechanism to monitor the country’s airways during the coming general and regional elections scheduled for March 2, 2020.

Anyone thinking of joining the PPP/C must do so without expecting any ministerial or other positions, according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who says no decision has been taken as yet on a Prime Ministerial (PM) candidate for the upcoming general elections.

Jean-Pierre Kingsley,  who served as Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer for 17 years,  has accepted the invitation of GECOM Chair Justice (rtd) Claudette Singh to provide technical electoral aid to the Chair.

President David Granger yesterday said that talks with the leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) Lenox Shuman have been “preliminary exploratory talks” as they look for common ground and areas of convergence.

On Tuesday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) spent its statutory meeting discussing two more proposals that government-nominated commissioners argued would strengthen the Official List of Electors while opposition-nominated commissioners stressed that they would “disenfranchise voters”.

Dear Editor, Mr. Lenox Shuman criticizes A New and United Guyana (ANUG) for the choice of its presidential candidate on the ground of age.

Effectively mobilised, civil society’s energies can have a positive impact on national elections, according to the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA).

Oil major ExxonMobil says that it will not make any contributions to political parties for the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections. 

In recent months there has been sufficient cause to be concerned that there is a rogue outfit operating within the elections secretariat/machinery to create maximum administrative confusion, further delay the scheduled general elections and to tinker with well-established timelines and schedules.

As a New and United Guyana (ANUG) moves towards the 2020 general elections, it will be targetting those voters who see no future in the ethnic politics that have dominated Guyana, according to its presidential candidate Ralph Ramkarran.

Almost nine months after being selected as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) presidential candidate for next year’s general elections, Irfaan Ali is yet to detail how one of the key planks of his campaign so far – the creation of 50,000 jobs – would be achieved.