Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh today dismissed the application by the Forward Guyana Movement, which challenged the decision of the Guyana Elections Commission not to include the party in the three regions where it did not field candidates.

Justice Singh said GECOM’s decision was lawful and within the confines of the Constitution, adding that to do otherwise, would have been unconstitutional.

He said the “factual matrix” of the case brought by FGM Member Krystal Fisher clearly shows that the party did not submit Lists of Candidates to contest the Geographical constituencies located in Regions 7, 8 and 9. The Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity did not submit lists of candidates for four regions.

Acting Chief Justice Singh said the omission of the parties from the ballot papers for those geographical constituencies was completely lawful.

He said while Fisher claimed that her Rights protected under the Constitution were violated by GECOM, her Attorney, Vivian Williams failed to demonstrate where those breaches occurred.

Citing Article 13, Justice Singh explained the electoral system as set out by the Constitution and procedurally laid out by RoPA was premised on increasing the participation of citizens in smaller distant communities by ensuring they have a local voice in the National Assembly.

He said in this regard, Fisher failed to establish how she was excluded from the democratic process, noting that her rights to vote and participate in the democratic process remains protected.

“In any event a party being lawfully omitted from a ballot paper cannot result in the Applicant’s rights under Article 13 of the Constitution being violated. In any event the applicant has not presented any evidence of a breach of this Act,” he said, while adding that the application’s assertion is “speculative.”

The Acting Chief Justice said the arguments put forward by the applicant were “ludicrous” and “fallacious.”

“The applicant’s argument that GECOM is discriminating against voters from particular regions is ludicrous and fallacious in that no evidence has been produced to show that GECOM has in any limited or restricted the participation of any party in the upcoming elections. The applicant has not shown in any way that GECOM has unlawfully determined which party appears or not appear on the ballot paper of any geographical constituency. In fact, based on the undisputed evidence before the Court, the parties on whose behalf the Applicant purports to be advocating, to wit, the FGM and the ALP, made deliberate decisions to not vie for a seat/s in those geographical constituencies which resulted in those parties not being placed on the ballot papers for the state constituencies,” the Chief Justice ruled.

He said the declarations sought by the Applicant are all premised on the assertion that GECOM excluded or omitted the Forward Guyana Movement and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity from the ballot of certain geographic constituencies. He said such an assertion is false, and was advanced by grossly disingenuous arguments from the applicant’s Attorney.

In dismissing the Application he awarded costs to the Guyana Elections Commission and the Attorney General in the sum of $1 million each with an 8th September 2025 payment timeline.

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