THE People’s Progressive Party said it is concerned at what it termed the delay of President David Granger in appointing Robeson Benn and Bibi Shadick as the two new opposition Commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).Pursuant to Article 161 (3)(b) of the Constitution, Benn and Shadick have been named as replacements for Mahamood Shaw and Athmaran Mangar.

The party said in a statement that it is aware that the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, wrote to President Granger on September 3, 2015, advising of this decision. “The absence of these members is hampering the PPP’s representation on the commission.”
The PPP said it recalls the undue haste with which the government, using its parliamentary majority, pushed through the National Assembly, the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill 2015. The party is now calling on the President to act with commensurate dispatch and appoint Benn and Shadick so that there is a fully constituted Guyana Elections Commission in the face of the impending Local Government Elections.