PNCR calls on GECOM to withdraw vaccination requirement for registration

Mar 12, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor

The PNCR totally rejects the requirement imposed by GECOM that citizens wishing to register must first provide proof of being fully vaccinated or a negative PCR test. Imposing a vaccination requirement for registration blatantly violates the Guyana constitution. The constitution enshrines a citizen’s right to elect and be elected as a fundamental guarantee and imposes only a minimum of necessary eligibility and administrative requirements for registration and for voting.

The vaccination requirement fails purely on constitutional grounds, and GECOM must immediately withdraw it on that basis alone. But the requirement is also absurd in that it places many citizens in the classic chicken-and-egg situation whereby to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a person needs a National ID card, but to get an ID card, a person needs to be vaccinated. The GECOM Secretariat has obviously given only superficial thought to the constitutional and common-sense implications of imposing a vaccination prerequisite for registration.

The PNCR therefore calls on GECOM to immediately and absolutely annul this requirement. The Party has also asked its commissioners to vigorously pursue this matter with the intent of having this unconstitutional measure withdrawn immediately. In making this call to GECOM, the party is, in no shape or form, underestimating the continued threat posed by the COVID pandemic. We therefore urge GECOM to put in place other effective measures such as masking, sanitizing, well-ventilated and spacious offices, and social distancing to promote the safety and comfort of its staff and all visiting applicants.

Regards
People’s National Congress Reform