The High Court on Tuesday denied an application for an interim conservatory order to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from continuing its House to House exercise that began on Saturday.
This was revealed following the hearing of the application. According to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, counsel for the applicant Christopher Ram, the order was not granted since Chief Justice (CJ) Roxanne George required more evidence as to the unconstitutionality of the exercise.
As such, Nandlall is expected to file an affidavit to this effect. Attorney-at-Law Neil Boston’s request for 14 days to present his written arguments was denied by the CJ, who gave him until July 29 to submit his affidavits. Boston is representing GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.
The Guyana Bar Association, which will be represented by its President Teni Housty and prominent attorney Sanjeev Datadin was also given leave to join the proceedings as a party and make written submissions. The case will again be heard on August 2.
Nandlall also revealed that the previous case that British based Guyanese citizen Bibi Zeenatoun had brought against GECOM was withdrawn following the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling since it was expected that GECOM would comply and kick into election mode. He noted that had that case been allowed to continue, they might have been able to get an order blocking GECOM by now.
