Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 04, 2011 News
An estimated 5,000 eligible voters have been added to the national register that would make up the final voter’s list for general elections due by year end, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.
The new persons were added to the list following a decision by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to re-open the Claims and Objections period.
The new round of registration began on July 25 and ends today. According to Dr Luncheon, this bears out the fact that all of these persons would have been disenfranchised if they did not have this chance to register.
Cabinet has noted that the Claims and Objections period has thus far been trouble-free and was carried out in all regions of the country.
Dr Luncheon said that the decision of GECOM to re-open the Claims and Objections period was based on that fact that literally thousands, borne out by the result of the new round of registration, ran the risk of being disenfranchise.
Opposition parties had first expressed concern that many eligible electors were unable to get their birth certificates before the close of the Claims and Objections period on June 9, and thus GECOM needed to find a way to correct the problem.
The PPP later raised the same concerns, and then one of the Commissioners on GECOM suggested the re-opening of the Claims and Objections period. This decision went to a vote at the level of the Commission, and by way of majority vote, the Claims and Objections period was re-opened on July 25.
According to Dr Luncheon, it was the possibility of thousands of persons being disenfranchised, that was “essentially the basis for the decision” made by GECOM.
The two Commissioners who had not voted for the re-opening of the Claims and Objections period had expressed fears that it could put in jeopardy the holding of general elections by the constitutional date of December 28.
However, the Commission’s chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, defended the decision and had said that the new round of registration would not disrupt the holding of elections.
The new Claims and Objections period involved the reestablishment of Temporary Offices targeting the entire Guyana, the re-hiring of temporary staff to be posted at the various offices, the deployment of Mobile Registration Units to far flung hinterland and riverain communities, the accreditation of Scrutineers to monitor the registration process, and the advertisement of the conduct of the exercise via all available media.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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