As the Objections leg of the Claims and Objections (C&O) exercise continues, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has expressed concerns over the large number of “unsubstantiated objections” being made by the APNU/AFC coalition.
The Claims phase of the exercise concluded on Monday, while the Objections is in its final week. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has received over 3000 objections in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice). This includes almost 500 names from the Amerindian settlement, Marakabai, in the Mahaicony River.
However, the PPP in a statement on Friday pointed out that the Constitution of Guyana clearly states that a person can only be removed from the voters’ list due to death, upon which a valid death certificate must be produced, and insanity proven by a recognised doctor’s certificate.
“No one can be taken off the voters’ list due to residency, be it local or overseas. This was also reaffirmed by the recent ruling of the Chief Justice,” the party stated.
Despite this, however, the PPP noted that to date, two hearings have been suspended in Region Five due to lack of supporting evidence from the APNU/AFC and GECOM officials wanting to seek clarity.
“The APNU/AFC representative in Region Five, Carol Joseph, has failed to produce a single shred of evidence to support the objections made. This is a deliberate attempt by the APNU/AFC and its agents to disenfranchise people who are perceived to be PPP supporters. Many of these persons have already come forward to identify themselves. A few may have moved from their original place of residence; however, this is not grounds for removing anyone from the voters’ list,” the Opposition noted.
To this end, the PPP is urging Guyanese to condemn such a nefarious act of trying to take away the rights of voters and is urging GECOM to ensure that the Constitution is adhered to during this process.
GECOM has revealed that during the Claims exercise, there were 16,639 transfers and 6394 new registrations.
