The APNU and WPA coalition today said it is preparing for the upcoming General and Regional Elections on September 1st, but warns that failure by the Guyana Elections Commission to conduct free and fair elections could have serious negative consequences.
In a statement today, the APNU/WPA coalition noted that while it will campaign and participate in the upcoming elections, it is doing so with the understanding that GECOM has continuously failed to live up to its Constitutional mandate of delivering elections of the highest standard of fairness and integrity and which can win the confidence of the Guyanese citizenry.
The Opposition coalition believes that many, if not all of its demands, since 2020 which includes a demand for a clean voter’s list, have not been met and therefore concluded that GECOM has been operating in a partisan manner.
“Our decision to participate also did not ignore the fact that, over the years, GECOM has refused to meet our demands for a clean voters list and the use of fingerprint biometrics at the place of poll. As such, these elections remain highly vulnerable to manipulation and fraud. The safeguards to ensure integrity can be readily breached, as we have already seen during the registration process where persons can register without adequate proof of identity, country of birth, and address,” the Opposition coalition noted.
The coalition headed by Leader of the People’s National Congress, Aubrey Norton, noted that while it has serious problems with GECOM’s elections machinery, it decided not to boycott the elections, since such a decision would allow the PPP to gain control of all the national and regional political space in the country.
In addition, the coalition said should it stay away from the polls, it will deny Guyanese the opportunity to express their support for the APNU/WPA coalition and their rejection of the PPP government through their votes.
“The vast majority of Guyanese are determined to get rid of the PPP and we must afford them the option to do so by putting the APNU/WPA coalition’s name on the ballot,” the coalition noted.
The coalition said it is confident that it can win the elections, once it is free and fair, and will not underestimate the challenges it facing in thwarting the will of the electorate.
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