Opposition will now participate in electoral reform consultation -says Ramjattan

Ramjattan said the electoral reform process is necessary based on recommendations from various international and regional observer groups. He said it is a process that must commence so that the next General and Regional Elections are held with a higher level of acceptance and a lower level of criticism.

Opposition will now participate in electoral reform consultation -says Ramjattan

The Opposition APNU+AFC appears to have changed its mind about attending next week’s stakeholders’ consultation for the country’s electoral reform process.

Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton said that the Opposition will not take part in the process. 

Today, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan confirmed the Opposition’s participation in the consultations.

“The AFC stands committed to electoral reform and is going to be present at the consultations on the 25th October 2022, primarily for the purpose of discerning the intentions of the PPP’s proposed set of amendments and why not others. The AFC will do so in collaboration with its parliamentary partner APNU,” Ramjattan said during a press conference this afternoon.

Ramjattan said the electoral reform process is necessary based on recommendations from various international and regional observer groups. He said it is a process that must commence so that the next General and Regional Elections are held with a higher level of acceptance and a lower level of criticism.

“The AFC in this regard would like to see a GECOM that is made up of an additional three members or some such number coming from outside of political parties but whose names must be agreed to by the President and Leader of the Opposition. This will offset the highly partiian membership as exist and dilute the almost judicial determinations forced upon the Chairman in the circumstances,” the AFC said put forward.

The AFC Leader also said that in view of the recent ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice on the elections petition case, there should now be amendments to the Constitution to reflect the ruling and to go further than that and include the views of the two judges at the CCJ who ruled that the Full Court could have heard the matter.

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