Voters List needs some sanitization, Opposition parties must work toward that end

Nov 29, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

It saddens me to see madness in politics in a country that I so love. Most recently, the AFC backpeddled on LGE. The PNC is yet to decide and the URP said they will not participate in LGE because the list is bloated, and that the dead voted.

Never in the history of this country, Guyana, had so many dead and absent voted than during the 28 years of PNC rule. The PNC/AFC has said that the voters list, which sits at around 682 000, and representing a population of about 750 000, is bloated by an estimated 200 000 names. This list contemplates and is in line with the constitution of Guyana and reflects the High Court’s ruling save for the miniscule number of the deceased. This has prompted the AFC to take several steps back and forth on elections. The PNC/AFC also chose to not participate in the Claims and Objections exercise that was undertaken by GECOM – an exercise that should have been part of their avenue to address their very concerns.In light of all of these complaints by the PNC/AFC, Comrade Leader of the PNC, Hon. Aubrey Norton, and his team hadn’t the gall to show up for a meeting with GECOM that they requested on the very same public musings.

I will not disagree with the fact that some sanitization of the list is needed to facilitate the removal of the deceased from the voters’ list; however, I am completely flabbergasted at the calls for new house-to-house registration in light of the High Court ruling that one cannot deny any Guyanese their constitutional right to vote because of where they live. These calls by PNC/AFC to remove persons based on residency has caused me to question the sanity of these political parties and their leadership. If, indeed, the PNC/AFC wanted to see a sanitized list, they would have undertaken to do so while in Government.  Instead of trying to orchestrate stealing a country, they would have undertaken electoral and constitutional reform while in office, they would have participated in the Claims and Objections exercise, they would have attended meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform, they would have stayed and debated the Constitutional Reform Committee Bill when it was tabled and supported it, they would have been the first to openly, meaningfully, and genuinely engage and support the Constitutional Reform process, and importantly, they would have paid attention to the ruling of the High Court.

The logic of these parties implies that the voters in Guyana are uneducated and cannot see through their shallow musings. I am grateful that the Guyanese voters are more enlightened and educated that what the PNC/AFC is making them out to be and LGE will once again demonstrate that fact.

Most respectfully,

Hon. Lenox R. O. Shuman, MP

Deputy Speaker