General Secretary of the governing People’s Progressive Party, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has hammered the opposition parties and other organisations that have been expressing their no-confidence in the Guyana Elections Commission.
At a press conference this afternoon, the Vice President said he is convinced that there is a deliberate and coordinated attempt to discredit the Chairman of GECOM and the organisation itself.
Over the past week, the People’s National Congress, the Alliance For Change, A New United Guyana and Trade Union umbrella body, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, all expressed their growing concern over the management of the Elections Commission and the work of the Chairman of the Commission.
Vice President Jagdeo came to the defense of the Commission and the Chairman again today. According to him, political parties and organizations have been unfairly criticizing GECOM in an attempt to discredit the elections management body and future elections.
“And I think the motive is, should they be able to or succeed in destroying the credibility of GECOM, they may be able to cast doubts on any elections conducted by GECOM. And so it is orchestrated and several of these organizations are boldly making statements and putting out press releases and getting a lot of these press releases represented in the newspapers and mainstream media and I think the primary target of the abuse is the Chair of GECOM,” Mr. Jagdeo told reporters.
Mr. Jagdeo said he believes many persons and political parties are still upset over the stance the Chairperson took in the aftermath of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. He however, did not address the direct concerns that the parties have been raising on the question of impartiality and fairness. He said GECOM currently has credible leadership.
“So if there is anyone who is credible or organizations or leadership it is the Commission and not the secretariat and that is why to ensure that they restore credibility to the secretariat, some of the people had to be replaced by professionals and that is what is happening there,” the Vice President said.
Opposition parties have also been going hard on GECOM on the issue of a clean voters’ list and the need for enhanced biometrics for next year’s poll.
The APNU and AFC have long said that the voters’ list is bloated by some 200,000 and that biometrics should be introduced to avoid duplicate voting.
While GECOM has said it will examine the calls for biometrics to be introduced, the Vice President has said it is not something that his party is willing to support at this time, although he has called for the introduction of enhanced biometrics in the past.
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