GECOM denies delaying LJP’s request to change Region 8 Councillor

In a statement today, the Elections Commission said the LJP first wrote to the Chief Elections Officer in September 2020, indicating that due to COVID-19 restrictions, persons in the Region were unable to travel to RDC Meetings and as a consequence it wanted to replace its candidate.

GECOM denies delaying LJP’s request to change Region 8 Councillor

The Guyana Elections Commission has shot down claims by the Liberty and Justice party that it is delaying the process to respond to its request to change its Region 8 Councillor.

In a statement today, the Elections Commission said the LJP first wrote to the Chief Elections Officer in September 2020, indicating that due to COVID-19 restrictions, persons in the Region were unable to travel to RDC Meetings and as a consequence, it wanted to replace its candidate with an alternate Councillor.

According to GECOM, the representative of the LJP’s candidates list was contacted and advised that the law does not make provision for the appointment of alternate Councillors and therefore a revised letter must be submitted, clearly stating the party’s request to have the gazetted Councillor replaced.

GECOM said the Leader of the LJP Lenox Shuman wrote to the Commission in November informing that his party has been advised by its Counsel that there is no such guidance in electoral laws and he insisted that the previous correspondence stands.

The Commission said the matter was extensively discussed at its meetings and it was agreed that the LJP must submit proper documentation requesting a change of the Councillor and provide justification for its request.

GECOM said it got the correct letter as requested today and will now take all the necessary steps to effect the change in keeping with the usual protocol.

The LJP Leader last week announced that his party has lost confidence in its selected Councillor for the region.

The move came after the selected Councillor indicated that he would be voting to select the APNU+AFC representative to serve as the Chairman of the Council since although the APNU+AFC and the PPP will hold the same number of seats on the Council, it is the APNU+AFC that secured the greater number of votes in the region.

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