17 parties likely to contest polls

-GECOM develops elections code, sends to parties for perusal

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is moving towards getting all of the political parties contesting this year’s general and regional elections to sign on to a code of conduct.

GECOM said in a release that copies of the draft code have been dispatched to 17 parties, comprising those currently represented in Parliament and others which have indicated interest to contest the upcoming elections, for perusal and comment.

Considering the advantage of having such an agreement in place, especially with respect to guarding against confrontational and vitriolic election campaign meetings, rallies and statements, GECOM is optimistic that the contesting political parties would agree to the code by way of signature.

“GECOM looks forward to all of the contesting parties signing the code as a demonstration of their willingness to implement their respective election campaign strategies in ways that contribute to the maintenance of peace and tranquility throughout and beyond the elections,” the press statement said.

Meanwhile, GECOM disclosed that copies of the Revised List of Electors (RLE) on CD Rom were also dispatched to the 17 parties. The data was provided in an encrypted stakeholder application format to facilitate easy search and analysis. The CD Rom also contains summaries of the numbers of electors by electoral districts.

Additionally, the elections body, said, its Civic and Voter Education Division has developed a strategic plan for the production and publication of educational materials depicting various aspects of the election process. This activity, which involves the production of flyers, banners, posters, notices and infomercials, focuses on equipping electors with knowledge about how to cast their votes, as well as providing other significant information about various aspects of the elections.

GECOM said, too, that it is moving ahead with its nationwide series of two-day training sessions targeting personnel who would be employed to work throughout Guyana on polling day. The third leg in the series was conducted over the weekend simultaneously in electoral districts two, 10, and part of one, the latter being the Moruca sub-district.

The first and second legs of this exercise, which targeted East Coast and East Bank Demerara and Georgetown, were conducted on September 3 and 4 and 10 and 11 respectively.