Dr Surujbally made the announcement at the opening ceremony of a meeting with the political parties that will be contesting the May 11, 2015 General and Regional Elections.
The meeting is aimed to sensitize the players in the political sphere about the requirements that need to be met for them to participate in the upcoming polls.
Guyana’s constitution mandates that each contesting political party must submit each of the Lists of Candidates on Nomination Day, one National Top-Up List, at least six Geographical Constituencies’ Lists and the Regional Democratic Councils’ Lists that the given Party may seek to contest on Nomination day.
The various Lists of Candidates must comprise registered voters who are eligible to be elected as members of the National Assembly. The various Lists of Candidates must be accompanied by Statutory Declarations by each person named therein as candidates, indicating their consent to be nominated before a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Oaths, notary public or other person authorized by law to administer an oath in theplace where the declaration is made.
The Constitution also stipulates that a person may be a signatory to a List of Candidates, notwithstanding that he/she is named therein as a candidate.
Candidates’ names may be duplicated only in that contesting party’s Geographical Constituency Lists and on its National Top-Up Lists; however it must be noted that a Candidate’s name must appear on only one Geographical Constituency’s List.
Over the past weeks two parties signalled that they would be interested in taking part in the upcoming election. This includes the Independent Party led by Social Activist Mark Benschop and The Healing The Nation Theocracy Party led by Ras Leon Saul.
