FACING the 2015 polls as a six-party coalition which promises ‘A good life for all Guyanese’, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition yesterday expressed the view that the May 11, 2015 polls had recorded a higher voter turnout than in 2011, with the electoral process being “relatively smooth.”Declaring his confidence in the coalesced APNU+AFC publicly, Presidential Candidate David Granger and his wife Sandra Granger kicked off the day’s proceedings for their party by casting their ballots as early as 6:03am at the Enterprise Primary School, D’Urban Backlands.

In a brief comment, Brigadier (ret’d) Granger supported the notion that yesterday, being dubbed by his coalition as ‘judgement day’ was “a good day for our children and our entire country.”
VICTORY
He expressed confidence in a victory at the polls, declaring that the “coalition will win and restore democracy and good governance to Guyana.”
According to Granger, this contention is based on the fact that he had visited every region in the country, and had “observed” the enthusiasm among Guyanese. This enthusiasm by the electorate, he maintained, will be a decisive factor in electing the government.
Granger reiterated his earlier expectation of securing between 58-62% of the total votes cast at this elections. In that light, he said, “We are confident that, given our performance in the 2011 elections where we had over 50% of the votes, we’ll be getting between 58-62% of the votes this time.”
NATIONAL UNITY
This victory which the APNU+AFC predicts, according to Granger, will usher in a new era of democracy, development and most of all, an era of national unity where the people of Guyana can start moving forward again.

CONCERNS
As it relates to concerns surrounding the electoral processes leading up to the May 11 polls, Granger outlined that several of these were raised with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in the lead-up to elections.
One of these concerns, he noted, was the failure of GECOM to issue certificates of employment to polling day staff who would not have been eligible to vote at the polling station they were scheduled to work at. This, he explained, would have resulted in a lost vote, since the staff would not have been allowed to leave the polling place for an indefinite period to cast their ballot.
Additionally, the issue of “polling stations being changed at the last minute” which could result in persons being disenfranchised, was also discussed with GECOM.
Meanwhile, at the National Aquatic Centre, Prime Ministerial candidate Moses Nagamootoo, accompanied by his wife Sita Nagamootoo, arrived just around 8:00am when they exercised their franchise by voting. In a comment after they had voted, the Nagamootoos told the media the voting process was done in “good time.”
However, this phase in Guyana’s history was not recorded by Nagamootoo as a general election, but rather as a revolution fuelled by the need for change.
SMOOTH
As the day progressed, an update from Co-Chair of the coalition, Joseph Harmon, revealed that the party considered the electoral process as one which glided “relatively smoothly across the country.”
Furthermore, Harmon disclosed that the coalition was of the belief that the voter turnout yesterday had surpassed that of 2011 by a landslide.

INTERVENTION
However, two incidents, highlighted by the Co-chair, occurred at Turning Point, Tucville and St. Sidwell’s Primary School, during yesterday’s proceedings. This attracted the attention of the coalition which made a timely intervention in helping to resolve the matters.
In both instances, Harmon said, interventions were managed by Prime Ministerial and Presidential Candidates which aided in successfully resolving the issues.
Nevertheless, he maintained that “polling had been relatively quiet” during the day and it was ANU+AFC’s belief that based on the general pattern of voting, the coalition was in a “comfortable position.”

CALL FOR PEACE
In the meantime, Harmon echoed his party’s call for peace to prevail during the post-election season.
“The presence of Mr. Granger at St. Sidwell’s and the presence of Mr. Nagamootoo at Turning Point are part of an overall effort by the coalition to ensure that voting is done in a peaceful manner and citizens respect the law, and where so ever there is any threat to any breakdown of law and order, that we insert our senior leadership,” a positive Harmon said.
But the coalition’s ‘peace talk’ is not limited to the leadership of the party, as he further noted that candidates who have been doing the groundwork across the country have been mandated to preach a specific message to supporters, “not to be provoked” and to “refrain from violence.”

By Ravin Singh