Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 04, 2008 News
While the Alliance For Change has gained a favourable decision in the Court of Appeal, in the matter involving the AFC and GAP/ROAR versus the Guyana Elections Commission, as it relates to the equitable distribution of scrutineers’ money, monies will no longer be paid over to these scrutineers because the registration exercise comes to an end today.
The Alliance For Change believes that the Guyana Elections Commission deliberately allowed the time to expire before contacting the party.
At a press conference yesterday, AFC Leader Raphael Trotman said that such a decision was obviously taken by a conniving and calculating mind or minds.
“This only goes to show what we are dealing with when we talk about the ability of GECOM to be credible and trustworthy enough to be able to produce any free, fair and transparent elections. The nation can judge for itself,” Trotman said.
It was noted that, despite the party’s request for a meeting with GECOM to resolve the issue, AFC had not received any response from GECOM except an acknowledgement of the party’s letter.
“The officials of GECOM have to be reminded that they are paid servants of the people and cannot be allowed to show favour and disfavour to selected political parties in Guyana, as is obviously the case,” Trotman said.
The Alliance For Change Leader said that the relationship between GECOM and the AFC has deteriorated to the point where the party now has little confidence in GECOM to capably preside over any future elections in which they are involved.
Trotman explained that, just prior to the 2006 general elections, GECOM officials called up a number of persons who were on the AFC polling lists and offered them employment at a higher rate of remuneration than was being paid by the AFC.
In another instance, Trotman said, on polling day itself, hundreds of the AFC polling agents were denied entry to polling places on the pretext that they required a letter of appointment.
The AFC noted that, by the time the matter was rectified, the party had lost most of their agents, especially those in the hinterland areas.
This, he said, resulted in no AFC agent being present at some of the polling places to observe that the process was free and fair.
The AFC has since observed that at those polling places there was a high degree of spoilt ballots, and the party is now of the belief that those ballots were valid AFC votes.
Trotman also alluded to the issue wherein the party is claiming that it won a Parliamentary seat in Region Ten. He said that even though GECOM admitted that this was indeed the case, the matter remains unresolved and is still pending in the courts.
It is because of these occurrences, Trotman said, that the party has little confidence in the capacity of GECOM to execute free and fair elections.
“We just don’t believe that we will be given fair and impartial treatment. The AFC will, in the very near future, be seeking to address this matter with GECOM”, the Leader said.
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