As the Alliance For Change (AFC) seeks to re-establish itself in the country’s political sphere, the party today turned its attention to the Guyana Elections Commission, and pointed out that the country’s electoral body continues to fail the electorate by refusing to implement critical reforms that will guarantee free and fair elections in Guyana.

The AFC will not be represented in the new Parliament when it convenes, but interim leader of the AFC, David Patterson, today said the party will use its voice outside of Parliament to push for crucial reforms, especially at GECOM.

Mr. Patterson said now that the elections are over, the spotlight should not be removed from GECOM in light of reports from various observer groups.

“The time is now for GECOM to start implementing several reforms, borne out of the experience of the electorate as well as the recommendations of the various observation missions. For the last five years, the Opposition has been calling for biometrics, earlier this year the Chairperson ruled that biometrics is not only feasible, it is also necessary and the way to go. So now that we have completed elections 2025, the process for biometrics should be commence immediately,” Mr. Patterson said.

The party said GECOM’s position that it not have enough time to implement biometrics during the last elections should no longer be accepted, as the Commission could begin its preparatory work early to implement biometrics.

“In that light, the Alliance for Change will be paying keen attention to budget 2026, which must include substantial provision to cover the process of implementation of biometrics at GECOM,” Mr. Patterson stated.

Mr. Patterson said the AFC has already started to engage with the Opposition parties that will be represented in Parliament to request them to sponsor a Motion in the National Assembly for budgetary allocations for GECOM to undertake the process to implement biometrics.

It also wants Opposition parties to take a draft Bill to the National Assembly to address the question of campaign finance, in light of an observer mission’s report which stated that the governing People’s Progressive Party had an unfair advantage in the last elections.

The AFC also said it is concerned about the composition and functions of GECOM, stating that persons outside of political parties should also have a seat at the decision making table of the electoral body.

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