…GECOM hails Nomination Day a major success

AMID much fanfare, only 13 of the 19 political parties that had indicated their interest in contesting the upcoming March 2, General and Regional Elections, submitted their Lists of Candidates to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Nomination Day held on Friday at the Umana Yana, and GECOM has hailed the process a major success, which it said was conducted smoothly.

The ruling coalition – the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) and its main opponent – the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) – submitted their Lists of Candidates for approval by the elections commission, in addition to The Citizenship Initiative (TCI), The New Movement, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), United Republican Party (URP), Change Guyana, Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), the Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP), the People’s Republic Party (PRP), the National Independent Party (NIP), Guyana National Service Party (GNSP) and the FED-UP Party. The lists of candidates were submitted to the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, in the presence of the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, and under the close watch of international observers, who indicated that the process was extremely smooth.

A total of 19 parties had submitted symbols ahead of Nomination Day but at least five were visibly absent on Friday at the Umana Yana. From all indications, the Kingdom Liberal Movement (KLM), Destiny to Oneness, the National Congress of Progressive Peoples’ Alliance, and the Cooperative Republicans of Guyana, would have dropped out of the race along with other smaller parties. The 13 political parties that are now one step closer to contesting the General and Regional Elections will have up until January 13, 2020 to correct any mistake on their lists once notified by the elections commission.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle outside of the Umana Yana, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward, said the National Top-Up Lists, the Geographical Constituency Lists and the Regional Elections Lists submitted by the 13 political parties are currently being scrutinised by the elections secretariat.

“At this time, we will not be able to say definitively whether they have reached the requirements in terms of the Lists of Candidates. Our staff is already going through the exercise of inputting that information into the database and to determine whether they have met all of the requirements,” Ward told this newspaper. It was explained that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, on January 12, 2020, will notify representatives and deputy representatives if their lists are found to be defective. All parties will have until January 13, 2020 to submit corrected lists if the need arises, through their representatives.

“But we can only determine whether those parties have been approved or not approved when we would have completed the IT subset of this exercise,” Ward was keen on noting.
The General Elections List is made up of the National Top-Up List, which must have at least 300 to 330 nominators countrywide, and at least 42 candidates, who are to be elected to sit in the National Assembly.

It also comprises of a Geographical Constituency List, which must see at least 150 to 175 nominators from each of the 10 Constituencies (Regions). The list should also include no more than 45 candidates, and must have a one third representation of women for the collective regions. Each political party must contest in at least six geographical constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Regional Elections List must have 150-175 nominators, who must be residing in the region for which they placed their names. It must have 12 to 36 candidates who also reside in the region.

In a separate interview with journalists, the Chief Elections Officer, while noting that the Nomination Day was smoothly executed, said political parties would have a chance to challenge the decision of the elections commission, if their lists are not approved at the end of the process. Legal provisions have been made for appeals to be made to the High Court, if needs be, by January 16, 2020. Approved lists will be gazetted on January 19, 2020, meaning that nothing can be changed at this time. Any changes, such as the death/withdrawal of a candidate or intent in a joiner of lists, these must be done on January 11 and 17 respectively.

“Once all of that is satisfied then we move towards the jurisdiction in which we are producing the ballots. The plan is that once those parties have satisfied the criteria for being on the ballot, we forward those to the service provider in Canada to ensure that they are produced in Canada. The production time is about 15 to 19 days inclusive of return flight to Guyana,” Lowenfield explained.

Addressing GECOM’s state of readiness for the much-anticipated elections, the PRO said aside from Nomination Day, the Revised List of Electors has been posted for a period of 21 days (January 5-25) for scrutiny by the public. Electors whose information, such as address or change in name, has not been updated are being given a chance to visit GECOM’s office to provide the corrected information, once they would have participated in the house-to-house registration exercise and or the claims and objections exercise.

“With the publication of the Revised List of Electors (RLE), it was recognised that a number of eligible electors whose addresses and other information were updated during the house-to-house exercise were not reflected on the RLE. In this regard, an administrative process is being conducted to ensure that electors are placed within their correct divisions for voting,” Ward had explained in a statement issued days ahead of Nomination Day.

It was noted that failure to conduct the exercise may very well result in electors being displaced and unable to vote at a polling station in their area. Free, fair and transparent processes in the production of a credible list are the hallmark of credible elections, Ward said, while adding that GECOM will ensure that the name of every registered eligible elector is properly accounted for on the Official List of Electors.

Chairperson of GECOM, Justice ret’d Claudette Singh, has once again put to rest any concerns regarding credible elections on March 2. Speaking to reporters, Justice Singh said, “I will not sell my integrity for all the oil in Guyana.” “Only one way I know and that is the correct way. I will deliver credible elections,” the GECOM Chair told the media.