PNCR to meet with GECOM to discuss cleansing voters’ list

Feb 09, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – As the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government gears up to hold Local Government Elections this year the major opposition force, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has made its position clear that a truly credible election cannot take place without the cleansing of the Official List of Electors (OLE).

PNCR Chairman, Shurwayne Holder

It is on this premise that the party intends to meet with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to discuss a plan to clean the list, which the PNCR is confident will pave the way for free and fair elections. Chairman of the party, Shurwayne Holder, said on Tuesday that the PNCR has taken note of the fact that monies have been allocated for the holding of Local Government Elections (LGE) this year in Budget 2022. However no specific funding has been set aside to cleanse the voters’ list.
In this regard, he noted, “The PNCR wishes to emphasise that free and fair elections pre-supposes a voters list that is clean and has the confidence of the Guyanese people”.
Holder reasoned that his party is yet to be convinced that the continuous registration process would clean the list and restore the confidence of the people of Guyana, following the 2020 Regional and General Elections.
The Party’s Chairman pointed out the PNCR’s intent to participate in both local government elections and general and regional elections with a voters’ list that is “accurate” and acceptable by all stakeholders. “GECOM must therefore commit to producing a voters’ list that is clean, in time for the next Local Government Elections,” he stated.
To this end, the Party intends to engage its Coalition partners as well as the Guyana Elections Commission in the shortest possible time, Holder told a news conference.
“At that meeting, the Party will clearly articulate its position on the above demands and will work with all stakeholders to ensure that all the contentions are addressed and resolved, paving the way for credible elections,” he posited.
Meanwhile, the Party’s Leader, Aubrey Norton listed ways in which he believes the OLE should be cleansed. This process, he outlined, is critical for removing dead persons or persons who may have migrated. Although Norton said he preferred to first meet with GECOM before making his request known, the party Leader did not hesitate to state the necessity of House to House registration.
He said, “If you go back to the last time the list was cleaned, I don’t remember the exact year and the time before, on both occasions the numbers came down considerably. If one accepts that Guyana has 750,000 people and a youth population that is above half of the population then you would recognize that logically you cannot have a voters list of 600 and something thousand”.
The PNCR Leader said he believes this “bloated list” contributed to the situation that unfolded during the last elections in 2020. Only last week, the Commissioners representing the Opposition at GECOM pointed to the importance of cleansing the voters list.