The attempts by the opposition, including the PNC now APNU, Alliance For Change and the defunct WPA, to scuttle efforts by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to ensure the registration of all eligible voters for the upcoming regional and general elections show once more that, despite a name change, the tricks are still the same.
“ This is despite the three parties acknowledging that there is a significant number of eligible Guyanese who are not on GECOM’s list of electors, because they were unable to secure the requisite source documents to facilitate their registration before the close of the Claims and Objections period, ” a statement from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) said last evening.
“ It is sad that, having recognized the above fact, the opposition is not interested in ensuring that all eligible Guyanese, both on the coastland and hinterland, are allowed to exercise their democratic right.
“It is interesting to note that the secretive union between the AFC and the PNC, now APNU, has been exposed again by the Alliance for Change now joining in this effort to disenfranchise eligible voters.
“Of further interest is the position taken by the wannabe prime ministerial candidate of the PNC, Rupert Roopnarine, who has now gone one step further in betraying the legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney, by not only joining with the party who was responsible for his death, but by now subscribing to the PNC’s hallmark reputation of denying Guyanese their right to exercise their choice.
“It is a known fact that a large number of persons, both on the coast and in the hinterland, particularly in the hinterland, were unable to register due to circumstances beyond their control; and any effort by GECOM to provide the opportunity to have these persons registered, while not jeopardizing the elections, can only add to the process being free and fair and beyond question.
The main opposition, when in government, was renowned for stealing people’s votes and it is now clear that they are seeking to steal people’s right to vote.
“The PPP/C has stood by the side of these eligible but not registered Guyanese, and will continue to support any initiative that will seek to afford them the opportunity to be listed, based on GECOM’s existing rules and procedures. The PPP/C wishes to remind these political parties that they had all written to GECOM or sought audience with GECOM, imploring that a mechanism be found to have these eligible Guyanese on board. It is evident that GECOM has taken some time to arrive at a mechanism, but the fact remains that these very parties are now opposing what they had requested GECOM to do.
“ Statements are now being made that the PPP/C is seeking to delay the elections beyond its constitutional deadline, which is an extremely weak argument, since elections are constitutionally due by December 28th 2011. The PPP/C is committed and has always been committed to adhering to all constitutional stipulations; hence, this is a non-issue. More so, if we are to take the time period of 13 days to address this issue by having these voters registered as stated in the letter, then no way can 13 days take GECOM beyond December 28th 2011, since by GECOM’s present timetable, it would be ready to certify the Final Voters List by early September, 2011,” the statement concluded.