AS OF yesterday, the two major political contenders in the 2015 elections race were confirmed as onboard to sign onto the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Code of Conduct, which has been finalised.GECOM’s Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that President Ramotar, also the presidential candidate for the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), yesterday confirmed that his party will be a signatory to the Code.
He added that the political opposition, the Alliance of A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) has also indicated that it is onboard.
Relative to timelines, the delays on the side of the political parties have made 2015 different from the 2011 General and Regional elections, where two weeks ahead of Election Day the Code of Conduct was already signed.
To date, according to the GECOM Chairman two political parties have already signed onto the Code, the United Republican Party (URP) and the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HTNT), while The United Force (TUF) has given an assurance that it will also sign the Code.
Dr Surujbally disclosed that GECOM has been unable to contact only one political party, relative to this issue, the National Independence Party (NIP).
The other two parties involved in the 2015 elections race are the Independent Party (IP) and the Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP).
Additionally, the signing of the Code of Conduct for the political parties is expected to be done at an official ceremony on Wednesday.
The Code was circulated, and political parties were expected to respond to GECOM with recommendations to inform the finalisation of the document by last Wednesday. It is a guide to expected behaviours in the lead-up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections.
Once political parties sign on to 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.
Several stakeholders in the electoral process, including the Private Sector Commission (PSC), have called on political parties to sign GECOM’s Code of Conduct. (Vanessa Narine)