BOOSTING the confidence of the Guyanese people in the commitment of political parties to a free and fair electoral process can be aided by signing the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GCOM) Code of Conduct.“We repeat our call to parties to sign the Code,” said the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Persaud.
According to him, the Code is “late in coming,” but has merit as it relates to its stipulations.
Two of the eight political parties that have entered the 2015 General and Regional elections race, the United Republican Party (URP) and the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HTNT), have signed the Code.
Over the weekend, the Code was circulated and political parties were expected to respond to GECOM with recommendations to inform the finalisation of the document by Wednesday.
The Code of Conduct for political parties is a guide to expected behaviours in the lead-up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections.
Once political parties sign onto the Code of Conduct, it is expected that they would abide by the protocols documented in the Code, all in the interest of free and fair General and Regional Elections.
The advantage of having such an agreement in place, according to GECOM, relates to being able to guard against confrontational and vitriolic election campaign meetings/rallies and statements.
GECOM regards contesting parties signing the Code as demonstrating their willingness to craft their respective election campaign strategies in ways that contribute to the maintenance of peace and tranquility throughout and beyond the elections.