PPP stages protest outside GECOM – demands March elections

Feb 06, 2019 News

Scores of PPP/C supporters converged at Red House in Kingston, yesterday, to press calls by the party for general elections to be held by March month end. The picketing exercise which lasted about an hour yesterday was led by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

Jagdeo addresses supporters at Red House yesterday

The protest action comes just one day after the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announced that the Commission is likely to be ready for the election at a date exceeding March 19.
Jagdeo stirred crowds at Red House, even as GECOM commissioners met to deliberate on the election preparedness a short distance away. Their attendance at Red House prompted heightened police presence and barricades along High Street, where the GECOM secretariat is located.
Addressing the gathering, Jagdeo noted that the party will not relent putting pressure on GECOM and the Government to ensure the election is held in the month of March.
“This is just the beginning; we will be increasing the pressure,” Jagdeo said to loud cheers and chants of “Granger must go,” from his supporters.
He told the crowds that “If elections are not held by March 19, from that day forward, this government becomes illegal and unconstitutional.”
“They have, as a Constitutional body, to respect our Constitution and now that the legislature has spoken and the Judiciary has spoken, they need to follow the timelines imposed by our constitution.”

A section of the crowd at the picketing exercise

In relation to reports of GECOM’s preparedness, Jagdeo said that the PPP deems the timelines for General and Regional Elections that were proposed by the Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as totally unacceptable, given that these demonstrate a worrying deviation from the mandate of the commission, which is to act in compliance with the Constitution of Guyana.
“I heard this argument about young people being disenfranchised, but you know the continuous registration starts with getting registered from the time you are 14-years-old. They could have extracted those names of persons who will be 18 by Election Day and put them on the list, “added Jagdeo
Meanwhile in a subsequent statement, the Party stressed that the successful passage of the no-confidence motion, the validity of which has been upheld by both the legislature and the judiciary, at the level of the High Court, triggered General and Regional Elections and dictates that these must be held by March 19, 2019..
The PPP noted, too, that Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, during his meeting with the Chief Whips – as agreed on after the January 9, 2019 meeting between Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, and President David Granger – admitted that he held a meeting of key Secretariat staffers on December 22, 2018 – a day after the December 21, 2018 vote on the no- confidence motion to address a work plan in preparations for General and Regional Elections.