–Party drops out of upcoming Local Government Elections

FACED with mounting internal challenges, a weakened Alliance For Change (AFC) has formally dropped out of the 2023 Local Government Elections (LGEs), a move that further erodes their position in the upcoming renegotiation with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on their coalition agreement that expires in December.

The AFC in a statement on Sunday said that its National Executive Committee (NEC) has arrived at a consensus that the party will not contest the upcoming LGEs without changes to the list of electors.

The decision by the AFC’s Executive Committee came as no surprise as the party has been declining due to the migration of members as former leaders including Raphael Trotman and former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, relegated to the fringes of Guyana’s political landscape.

According to the AFC, no election should be held with the existing list of electors because it is bloated and illegitimate.

VOTERS’ LIST AN EXCUSE
Residents have already started to see the AFC’s blaming the list as an excuse to avoid another trouncing at the polls.

Former Georgetown mayor and senior PNC member, Patricia Chase-Green issued harsh criticism of the AFC following the announcement.

“That won’t change a thing,” Chase-Green said about the AFC’s decision.

She added: “The last election they contested on their own how many seats did they get [?] Look take a seat at the back of the class. Won’t be missed.”

It is well documented that the list of electors scheduled to be used in 2023 is the same one used in 2015 that saw the APNU+ AFC win the government. It is also the same list of electors used in 2016 and 2018 LGEs in which there were forced by the People’s National Congress (PNC) to contest those elections alone.

On both occasions, the AFC suffered immense defeat, particularly in 2018 when the party could attract only four percent of the votes.

Additionally, the losses have been compounded further, as the AFC has been reduced to begging the PNC to honour agreements at the local government level to have AFC candidates in top positions.

The latest such example is in Linden, where the PNC has rejected the AFC’s candidate to fill the post of Vice-Chairman of Region 10.

The AFC’s position on the 2023 LGEs was made a day after the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, told Demerara Waves Online News that the voters’ list is good enough and that she is confident in the safeguards that are in place for the elections process.

AFC PREDICTABLE
Commenting on the AFC’s position regarding LGEs, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo appeared to have predicted the AFC’s position back in October.

“I would not put it past them not to contest the elections not because of any fear that the [Official] List [of Electors] is bloated, but to save face because they know they will practically be further wiped out if there is anything like that that… you could be practically limited from having any say at the national level,” Dr. Jadgeo stated.

Chief among the opposition’s demands is the continuous call for changes to the voters’ list, in contravention of a ruling by the High Court that outlines how said changes can be made.

Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution clearly establish the qualifications and disqualifications of electors.

Articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution prescribe that a person who is 18 years or older, who is a citizen of Guyana or a Commonwealth citizen, who is not a citizen of Guyana, resident in Guyana and has been so resident for a period of one year, immediately preceding the qualifying date, qualifies to be registered; and once registered has an unconditional right to vote.

The Claims and Objections exercise provides eligible electors who did not register, the opportunity to gain entry to the list of electors or to update their particulars (transfers and changes), and it also provides the opportunity for objections to particulars in the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

Dr Jagdeo addressing the matter of calls for the removal of names from the list of electors through house-to-house registration, had affirmed that the government is not going to make decisions that would disenfranchise people, rather, they would implement systems that would enfranchise all eligible voters.