With the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announcing that it had registered over 6,000 persons during the new round of claims and objections, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and presidential candidate Donald Ramotar said, the PPP/C feels vindicated that it had pushed for this development.
Ramotar also said he was not too comfortable with the possibility of elections being held in December, as this could affect the festive season.
Speaking at a Freedom House news conference on Friday, August 5, Ramotar said that the PPP has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that there were indeed approximately 7,000 unregistered persons across Guyana.
He noted that, based on figures disclosed by GECOM at the end of the reopened claims and objections (C&O) period – which commenced on July 25 – more than 6,800 persons have been registered.
He said, however, that the number is not the final count, as GECOM is in the process of verifying some 200+ registrants.
PPP General Secretary and presidential candidate Donald Ramotar
“It has vindicated the position of the PPP in joining with those who had earlier called for a reopening of (the claims and objections period), and it shows that our figures are close to the mark; because, as far as I am aware, up to Thursday, (August 4) GECOM had registered and verified about 6,706 persons… the latest figure I got was 6,860 persons that have been verified,” Ramotar stated.
Particulars of another 250 persons are yet to be verified by GECOM. Once that verification process has been completed, the figure may move to just above 7,000 registered persons.
“I want also to point out that the opposition position was totally wrong. We felt that this was a problem that was strong in the interior, but it was all over the country; it was not confined to the interior. The opposition disputed that, but I have seen in Region Four about 1,600 persons so far have been registered in Georgetown,” The PPP general secretary stated.
He continued: “… in areas where they (the PNC) traditionally got a lot of votes, like South Georgetown, you had quite a bit of people being registered there. So our position that we had said, our interest, fundamentally was not partisan, it was a human rights issue, and we thought people had the right, who had made efforts to get on the list but because of other problems they didn’t get on, and they should have been given the right.” Ramotar added that at no point had his party’s call to have the C&O period reopened been for selfish reasons. That aside, Ramotar said, the PPP-led administration is one that has illustrated that it is the best political party, as it caters to the needs of all citizens.
“Once again, the PPP has shown that it is a champion of people’s rights in this country, and that we will continue to promote people’s rights at all costs to ensure they have their proper human rights in every aspect,” said the presidential hopeful. Ramotar posited that his party is apparently the sole party that does “on the ground” work so as to ascertain what issues are affecting the people. “It shows that our party is probably the only party with its foot very firmly on the ground and really knows what is happening on the ground, and some of the issues affecting the people.” He chided the opposition, in particular the Alliance For Change, for not supporting the National Assembly’s move to have the C& O Period reopened to facilitate the 7,000 unregistered persons.
“The opposition… the AFC wanted to disenfranchise those who were not on the list. This was not accidental, it was deliberate; because they had earlier… before the PPP, talked about extending the period. So why did they object to more than 7,000 people being enfranchised?” Ramotar also did not deny that there may still be a few persons who were unable to get their source documents sorted out. He, however, noted that his party would not be making another call for those persons to become registered.
December elections
Responding to questions from the media, Ramotar stated that he would not be too comfortable with national elections being held in December. He told the media that while the hosting of elections in December is not a novelty, he would prefer it being held before then.
“If it’s unavoidable because of the nature of the situation and the time of the situation, then we’ll have to have it. I don’t think it is desirable, and I myself do not like it. Only if it is really absolutely necessary then I think it will be like that,” he said. National elections are constitutionally due by December 28, and GECOM has indicated that it should be ready for this undertaking by mid-November.
Initially, GECOM had indicated that it would have been ready for the elections by mid- October, but the reopening of the C& O period caused a rescheduling of this event.
