…APNU+AFC in midday protest for house-to-house registration
…say eligible youths must not be disenfranchised
…renew calls for cleansing of voters’ list

“NO registration, No elections! My vote, must count!” chanted the supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition as they swarmed the junction of Lamaha Avenue and Main Street, picketing the Office of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in Georgetown.

The picketers, with the support of several ministers of government, called on GECOM to conduct house-to-house registration ahead of any elections as they reject the opposition’s call to fast track the electoral process. GECOM was allocated $3B for the conduct of house-to-house registration.

NEW REGISTRATION NECESSARY
At the height of the picketing exercise, Public Security Minister and Chairman of the Alliance For Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, said while GECOM will make the final decision on whether house-to-house registration would be conducted, it is his position that national registration is a necessary process that guarantees all eligible Guyanese their right to vote. According to Ramjattan and the coalition’s supporters, if the old list of electors is used for the upcoming elections, thousands of young people, who have not registered but are eligible to vote, will be disenfranchised. They are also concerned that the current list is bloated with dead people whose names have not been struck off.

But is Ramjattan’s call for national registration non-negotiable? No. “I never keep any door closed but I would prefer to ensure that all the young people who are not on the list (to) be there. I would like the list to be cleansed of all the dead people, and those who are not resident,” the AFC chairman told reporters.

He added that thousands of Guyanese have relocated to various sections of the country but have not registered in the areas that they now live. “A lot of people have shifted, say from Port Mourant to Parfaite Harmonie, and they must be allowed to vote at Parfaite Harmonie instead of Port Mourant,” he posited.

DELAYING TACTICS
Ramjattan also rejected claims by the opposition that the call for national registration is a delay tactic being employed by the governing coalition to push back elections. “We are not delaying any elections. We are ensuring that the list is pure. That same opposition, if when we win the elections with this list, they are going to say it is rigged elections,” he said.

Adding his voice to the issue, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan said that the old list of electors is unacceptable. “We cannot have an acceptable list for the conduct and the holding of general and regional elections in the absence of house-to-house registration,” Minister Bulkan said. National registration was last conducted in 2008 – some 10 years ago.

“The current official list of electors, my understanding, is in the vicinity of about 600,000 names in a population of approximately 750,000. The list is bloated! We cannot have an acceptable election with the current list being used as the basis,” the communities minister said while maintaining that house-to-house registration is a prerequisite.
Asked what makes the current list invalid when it was months ago used for the holding of Local Government Elections, Minister Bulkan, in response, said the two elections are significantly different.

“Local Government Elections and General Elections are two different animals. The lists used for Local Government Elections are individual lists for each of the Local Democratic Organs. What we are heading towards is a general election to determine who will be the next president of Guyana. We can’t go with this list, this list is way too bloated,” he contended while holding strong to the coalition’s position.

Minister Bulkan is of the opinion that facilitation of “Claims and Objection” alone would not be sufficient to cleanse the list of dead people. However he, like Ramjattan, accepted that the final decision on the conduct of national registration lies with the elections body.
Public Health Minister and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chairperson, Volda Lawrence was also in support of the youths, who championed their right to vote.

“It is there constitutional right to be given an opportunity whenever that five year comes around, once they are eligible to be able to make their choice to say who they would like to govern them,” Lawrence said. The public health minister noted that the current list of electors will expire in April, and a new list should be compiled. That list, she posited, will see the removal of names of dead persons and the addition of new eligible voters.

Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes echoed similar sentiments. According to her, there are many young eligible voters without identification cards (IDs) because they deem the current process of registration complex and frustrating. House-to-house registration, she said, will make the process easier.

City Councillor Akeem Peters said it is important for young people to be able to exercise their franchise. “You must give those eligible to vote an opportunity to vote. It is their constitutional and democratic right to do so, and we believe that all of the persons who are eligible to be on the voters’ list should be given the opportunity to vote,” he told the Guyana Chronicle. According to him, this is not a “party issue”, but one of national importance that affects the nation’s young people.

Nineteen-year-old Jamal Daniels of Sophia was among the picketers. The young man said he never obtained an ID and is in support of national registration on the basis that it would be easier for young people like himself to register.
“On me behalf I feel I am okay about the house-to-house registration. I would glad to get my ID card because it has been keeping me back from getting jobs,” he told this newspaper.

Twenty-four-year-old Esron France, who is also of Sophia, said a new list reduces the risk of persons rigging the elections. “I think the house-to-house registration is essential to elections because you have to get a clean voters’ list to get a proper elections, in order to get an election where persons will not cheat the system,” France said.

Juaretha Fernandes, who led the Youth for Change (YFC) to the picket line, said young people should not be cheated by the system. With supporters chanting “Youths vote, must count,” Fernandes told this newspaper that the house-to-house registration will give young eligible voters a chance to exercise their democratic right to vote.

“We strongly believe that it is necessary. It is our democratic right as young people to go out there and let our voice be heard. Our vote is our voice in an election. We have about 120,000 persons on the voters’ list that are deceased, and we have thousands of youths that are out there and are not registered. Are we saying that by going into a rush elections that we care more about persons that are dead than the youths who are the future of Guyana?” she reasoned.
According to her, YFC, an arm of the AFC, strongly believes that national registration is the only way to sanitise the list.

Another youth, Devin Sears, said he was pleased to see the great turn out of young people at the picketing exercise. Sears, who hails from Linden, said it is important that GECOM be allowed to carry out its functions effectively without interference. He said to fast track the process, eliminating key elements such as house-to-house registration, would be to interfere in a democratic process.

DO NOT LOSE HOPE
Junior Public Infrastructure Minister Annette Ferguson urged the supporters, a mixture of young and old persons, not to lose hope in the government. “Do not lose hope; do not lose faith in your government. Three years we have done tremendous things in the country to bring about the desired changes we all longed for,” she told the supporters. Minister Ferguson urged those present to vote for President Granger and his team to have a second term in office whenever the elections are held.

An opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion has triggered the need for early elections but the government has turned to the courts to set aside the decision of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, which was upheld in the High Court. The matter is now at the Court of Appeal but in the interim GECOM is assessing its state of readiness for an early election. Regional and General Elections are constitutionally due in 2020.