More than five thousand additional Guyanese were able to register for the upcoming general and regional elections, as the claims component of the extended claims and objection period came to an end on Wednesday. This confirmation was made by a source at the Guyana Elections Commission.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon described this development as ‘welcoming’, as he addressed reporters during his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday. According to Luncheon, Cabinet continues to review the commission’s readiness, and is pleased at the progress.
“Cabinet noted the so far problem-free conduct of the ongoing claims and objections exercise,” Luncheon stated. Reports indicate that the General Registrar’s Office has been working late hours into the night to facilitate the thousands who were at risk of not having their names appended on the Voters List. According to Dr. Luncheon, this approach was a logical one.
“I can’t imagine that as a consequence of that opening offered by GECOM, the GRO would not have been expected to stand up to the plate and perform much more than it had performed previously, and indeed to do justice to the interventions that were made by GECOM,” the Cabinet Secretary said in response to related questions by the media.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon
The extended period for the “objections” component ends on August 6. GECOM designated an extra 13 days for claims and objections after the ruling Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/ C) insisted that thousands of Guyanese were at risk of being ‘disenfranchised’ because of the lack of source documents. This cry was earlier made by other political parties, who later questioned the motive of the PPP/ C. An amendment to the National Registration Bill to facilitate this reopening sparked controversy and heated debate in the National Assembly when it was tabled on July 21 last.
Meanwhile, Guyana Times International understands that GECOM has decided that its startup date for the Media Monitoring Unit is August 15. According to a GECOM source, the equipment used previously is still in place and will be reused, but the commission is still trying to round up all those who were previously employed, to avoid having to retrain staff.
Dr Luncheon was also quizzed about the reconstitution of the MMU. Dr Luncheon related that GECOM faithfully kept the physical resource at their headquarters, and it has been confirmed that those resources are intact. The human resources, I’m advised they have not been unable to get one hundred per cent of those who previously discharged media monitoring functions. I’m told they have majority but they weren’t able to get all of them. Efforts then had to be made to bring new people onboard,” Luncheon responded.
Recently, GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally expressed the view that it is now appropriate to revive the MMU in the face of heightened national conversation on the upcoming national elections. He was concerned that much of these publications and comments in the electronic media were provocative.
“Recently, we have been witnessing the resurgence of the publication of inciting articles and comments in the print and electronic media… many of which carry content that could lead to conflict,” Dr Surujbally expressed.
In 2010 the MMU was disbanded and was due to be resuscitated early this year as committed by the state. Dr Surujbally believes its operation could force the media to operate within the principles enshrined in the Media Code of Conduct to which all of the major stake holders pledged adherence by signature.
