A WEEK closer to the May 11 General and Regional Elections, and a week since the start of the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Claims and Objections period, and Guyanese now only have 85 days until their return to the polls.

For the most part, the last week has delivered good news to the electorate and other major stakeholders in the electoral process, in particular where response to the Claims and Objections period is concerned.
THOUSANDS RESPOND
According to GECOM, thousands opted to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Claims and Objections period.
As of Friday, there have been approximately 1,369 new registrations; 550 changes and corrections to existing registration information; and 1,399 transfers, due to issues related to change of address, etc.
There have also been 477 replacements of identification cards on request; 139 retakes of photographs; and 25 objections.
The Claims and Objections period is the next step after a continuous cycle of registration, the last one being the Seventh Cycle of Continuous Registration. Some 6,003 persons took advantage of the Seventh Cycle of Registration, which ended on December 31, 2014. There were also 1,163 changes and corrections to existing registration information, which were done during the Seventh Cycle of Continuous Registration, as well as 1,248 transfers.
The Seventh Cycle of Continuous Registration commenced on November 30, 2014, and allowed persons the opportunity to register for the first time; conduct transfers; and make changes to their registration details.
Prior to the start of the Claims and Objections period, the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) was published to allow for review by eligible voters.
The PLE’s publication, as well as several other operational undertakings, had to be completed before a date for the Claims and Objections period was named.
What is clear is the usefulness of the ongoing Claims and Objections period.
DECISION MAKING
Where there was uncertainty, however, was within the confines of the room in which the likelihood of the Alliance for Change (AFC) becoming the newest partner of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Coalition was being decided; as in whether or not there was going to be a pre-election alliance of sorts, although the dynamics of such a move is another grey area.
That anxiety was soon dispelled when on Saturday, the two parties announced that they will be heading into the May 11 Elections as a coalition.
In other spheres, there is still need for greater clarity on what new issues, particularly social ones, will form part of political parties’ campaign platforms.
One particularly sentient issue is that of the legalisation of marijuana, or ‘weed’, as is the name by which the subject is more popularly known.
Both APNU and AFC have expressed an inclination to advance the legalisation of ‘weed’ in Guyana. Some politicos contend that this may well be an attempt to sway the new generation of voters, as well as being party to the historic rethinking of the herb by national leaders, as was evidenced recently in Jamaica.
Several States in the United States of America (USA) have also legalised the use and possession of marijuana. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) itself last July agreed on the establishment of a Commission to examine the possibility of decriminalising marijuana in the Region for specific purposes.
An important point some politicos say is being missed is that while the legalisation of ‘weed’ may sound ‘nice’, no attention is being placed on correcting the public perception that one can ‘walk around with their spliff’ .
Jamaica’s legislature debated for five hours, and passed laws that resulted in the decriminalisation of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Having up to two ounces (around 56 grams) will only be punishable by a fixed penalty ticket, instead of a criminal charge. Besides addressing the establishment of a licensing authority for the cultivation, sale, and distribution of marijuana for medical and therapeutic purposes, the Bill also proposes that the smoking of marijuana will be banned in public spaces.
The ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP) has made it clear that the legalising of ‘weed’ has not been one of its considerations. So it remains to be seen if this hot-button moot becomes an addition to manifestos, or whether another issue will be the pick? Observers have indicated that gay and lesbian rights may be the other ‘swing issue’, given global and national trends. But, as with everything else, only time will tell.
DEADLINES
With that, Guyanese have set themselves another deadline: The launch of manifestos, the roadmap of each political party that outlines their vision of Guyana, post-2015.
Until then, we also await the announcement of leadership tickets and the official launch of campaigns, and even new political parties, as well as the dissolution of Parliament.
In the meantime, the Claims and Objections period continues. It is a period that is necessary to finalise the Official List of Electors (OLE), which will facilitate voting on Elections Day, and is expected to come to aclose at the end of February.
Added to that, Nomination Day is expected to be approximately 32 days before May 11, and at this stage, contesting political parties will make their running official, as well as hand in their list of candidates, as in ‘would-be’ representatives of the Guyanese people, depending on the outcome of the polls.
And so, the wait continues.
In some areas, though, the wait may not be very long, if all goes well. And in this instance, the subject at reference is the timely delivery of election results.
Word is that the results of the Monday, May 11 General and Regional elections could be delivered by the next day, according to the GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally.
“If everything moves smoothly (no flippant or frivolous legal challenges; no weather-related setbacks; no eruption of violence, etc.), then we may deliver the results by the following day after the closure of polls,” a subsequent GECOM statement said.
According to the Commission, the challenges include: The number of logistical challenges directly related to the geographic peculiarities that exist, not lastly in the hinterland areas; a number of unforeseen circumstances which can or may occur and which could have an adverse effect on the timely delivery of the elections results; the fact that political parties have the right by 12 noon on the Tuesday (May 12, 2015) to request a recount; and the fact that the entire mass of 212,000 square kilometers of Guyana represents one single constituency consisting of hundreds of thousands of electors responsible for the election.
“GECOM will do its utmost to produce prompt and early results, it cannot and will not do so at the expense of accuracy. GECOM would like to clearly reiterate that the delivery of accurate elections results remains one of the priorities of the Commission,” the Commission said.
Until then, GECOM continues in its effort to ensure the effective and efficient management of the May 11 elections. In the last week, Dr Surujbally has met with a delegation of elections experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to discuss a number of issues, and there was an effort to ascertain key areas of possible United Nations electoral assistance.
As we head closer to ‘E-Day’, it looks like it’s going to be another ‘happenings’ week, in and out of the political arena.

(By Vanessa Narine)