Elections tension at GPSU
GPSU’s CEO, Herman DeSouza, (left) in a standoff with members of the GPSU’s GGMC branch on Saturday
GPSU’s CEO, Herman DeSouza, (left) in a standoff with members of the GPSU’s GGMC branch on Saturday

— police called in to defuse situation over counting of ballots

POLICE were on Saturday called in to settle uneasy candidates and members of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), who attempted to stall the counting of ballots at the union’s Shiv Chanderpaul Drive office.

Persons who were on the final list of candidates were disgruntled and boisterous yesterday after the union’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Herman DeSouza, refused to issue a list of voters and Statement of Polls (SOPs).

The GPSU elections were held on April 27, 2017, and to date, only one ballot box has been counted because of disruptions from candidates, said DeSouza during an interview with Guyana Chronicle.

“They are calling for a list of voters but that was already prepared prior to the elections and circulated to the various branches of the union… at a late request, it could not have been circulated again because there are other things to do,” the CEO said.

Candidates protested that a final list of voters was not published, but these claims were dismissed by DeSouza, who noted that all information pertaining to the elections was circulated in the media and on the GPSU’s website.

The Chief Elections Officer lamented that criticisms from candidates and members came even before the elections.

He pointed out the instance when an injunction, which was filed by a member of the GPSU, Gregory Gaspar, was granted on April 20, 2017 to halt the elections.
That injunction was lifted on April 25 and the union proceeded to hold its elections on Thursday.

“Prior to the suspension of the elections, the office had everything in place, so we were already geared to run off the elections in short notice… the notification was sent out via newspapers and telephone messages as well as public notices,” he said.

As a result of this, it was explained that all arrangements were already in place so the list of voters and other requisite documents were already circulated.

Candidates nevertheless objected to the ballots being counted.

All 19 ballot boxes from across the country were returned to the CEO and they are being stored at the union’s head office.

“Boxes were returned to the head office, three of which from Region 10 were empty because all of what was in there was piled into one standing ballot box… counting staff nevertheless proceeded to count the boxes,” said DeSouza.

The disruptions by candidates caused the counting process to be stopped. They tried to count on Friday and on Saturday but were only able to complete one box.
“Every attempt to resume the counting failed… so it is now a stalemate and will remain that way until members decide to accept the process,” the CEO said.

Meanwhile, Gaspar and other members of the GPSU’s Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) branch said that they will not accept anything until their call for transparency is accepted.

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