THE indications of the Guyana Elections Commission’s preparedness for the impending general and regional elections were welcomed by the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) on Tuesday.“The Party welcomes recent public statements made by GECOM indicating their level of preparation to hold elections given the (constitutional) three-month timeframe after the President’s announcement,” General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee, said during a press conference held at Freedom House.

FRAMEWORK IN PLACE

Over the weekend, the Commission’s Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Vishnu Persaud, disclosed that GECOM has a framework in place to facilitate the conduct of elections.
He said the Commission has in place a framework, which would be converted into a work plan for the conduct of general and regional elections, once a date is pronounced on by President Donald Ramotar.
“The framework we have in place will metamorphose into a Work-plan for the efficient conduct of general and regional elections,” Persaud said.
The DECO added, “Within the framework, there are various statutory and administrative requirements, which must be completed and are relevant to the efficient management and conduct of general and regional elections.”
GOOD WORK
Additionally, the PPP General Secretary congratulated GECOM on the successful completion of the seventh cycle of continuous registration, which ended on December 31, 2014.
“The use of the mobile units during the seventh cycle has worked effectively and had a positive impact on those figures achieved by GECOM.
The PPP calls on GECOM to now ensure that the new registrants are properly verified and finger prints cross matched, so that the production and issuing of their National Identification Cards can be done in a timely manner,” Rohee said.
The numbers released to the Guyana Chronicle indicated that new registrations, currently being verified, number 6,003 persons, while there were also 1,163 changes and corrections to existing registration information and 1,248 transfers due to issues related to change of address, etc.
“GECOM’s declaration of over 6,000 new registrants and almost 1,500 transfers has served to further strengthen the PPP’s claim that there were large numbers of Guyanese who would have been disenfranchised after the completion of the 6th Cycle of Registration which concluded with a total of 14,900 new registrants,” the PPP General Secretary said.
Also, at the end of the sixth cycle of continuous registration, in the latter part of June, there were registrations of some 14,981 new persons. There were also 2,004 transfers, owing to issues related to changes of address, and 2,747 changes/corrections to existing registration information.
Prior to the sixth cycle of continuous registration, the last such exercise ended in December 2013.
“The Party is of the view that a similar professional approach by GECOM and interest of citizens should be exhibited in the upcoming Claims and Objections Period, especially with the President’s indication of dissolving Parliament and announcing a date for General and Regional Elections in early 2015,” Rohee stressed.
EXPECTED SOON
Additionally, an announcement from President Donald Ramotar on a date for general and regional elections is expected to be made soon.
President Ramotar, in early December, ended the wait of the Guyanese people with the much-anticipated announcement on the way forward to bring an end to the current political impasse – a move to early general and regional elections.
A move by the President to set a date will have a bearing on several processes. Once a date is set, it will translate to the dissolution of Parliament, which currently still stands suspended under the November prorogation proclamation.
Political parties will then kick into campaign mode. And once a proclamation announcing a date is made by the President to go to general and regional elections, GECOM will have its timelines with which to work.
Asked for clarity on a timeline within which a date would be set for a return to the polls, the President assured that he would make the proclamation early this year.
CONFIDENCE
The Head of State expressed confidence in his party regaining the parliamentary majority it lost in the 2011 general and regional elections by one seat. At the last elections, the combined Opposition gained control of the National Assembly by a one-seat majority in a 33-32 split.
President Ramotar credited his confidence to the Government’s performance in moving the country forward for the benefit of the Guyanese people, and to the experiences of the Guyanese people in the last three years.
The last general and regional elections were held in November 2011.

(Vanessa Narine)