Jagdeo remains opposed to house-to-house following CJ’s ruling

Aug 15, 2019 News

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, still remains opposed to the issue of house-to-house registration, calling it a “complete waste of time and money.”
These statements surfaced following yesterday’s ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire.
She ruled that house-to-house registration is not illegal or unconstitutional, but she urged the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to consider other forms of verification.
This would mean that the Chief Justice would have placed the proverbial “ball in the court” of GECOM, to act in a manner that allows for the constitution to be complied with.
“[The government] continues to misinterpret, or reinterpret decisions and the constitution. We argued that the timeline for the holding of election would conflict with the house-to-house registration.
“We went to the court in the absence of the commission because there was no commission at that time— there was no appointed chairperson, and we asked the court two things; to stop the [house-to-house] exercise, and also because it was inconsistent with the timeline, and that we believe that this exercise is unconstitutional because it will deregister people.
“But [Chief Justice Roxane George- Wilshire] said that GECOM cannot operate as if it is in a dormant elections cycle,” Jagdeo disclosed yesterday at his Church Street office.
The Chief Justice was keen to note that residency is not a qualifying requirement, and therefore the names of those on the list of National Register of Registrants (NRR) and Official List of Electors (OLE) cannot be removed unless deceased, or becomes disqualified.
“So what does this mean now? It means that the entire house-to-house exercise which has been done so far has been a complete waste of time and money because they cannot remove people from the NRR who have already registered,” said the opposition leader.
The Chief Justice went on to say that it would be unconstitutional for people who are already registered to be removed because they reside in another jurisdiction or location within Guyana.
“That means that the NRR that we used to extract the OLE for all the elections before remains intact. And when the enumerators come around now, whether you are at home or not, whether you are registered or not, once your name is on the NRR and you voted on the last elections then they cannot remove your name. Your name will be on the updated OLE.
“We are vindicated in telling people not to register. It is a colossal waste of time… This is a major movement forward and we expect that GECOM will respect the decision of the court and move swiftly into the Claims and Objections period.
“The constitution said three months, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) mentioned March 21st that the time has been out on pause. There has been no extension of the life government since March 21.
So if they are claiming that September 18 is not the drop dead date, because it was allowed or we were generous on our recalculation of the three months starting on the date of the CCJ ruling then it has to be March 21 because there has been no extension of the life of the government,” Jagdeo explained.
The opposition leader did not elaborate on what the next move is for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), but he did assure media operatives that such would be conducted today at his weekly press briefing.

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Jagdeo remains opposed to house-to-house following CJ’s ruling

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