PPP appears comfortable with size of voters list

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 March 2015, 4:07 by GxMedia

The governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) appears to be satisfied with the size of the voters’ list, despite concerns by the opposition that the roll has grown by at least 100,000 persons since the 2011 general and regional elections.

PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee said his party has not been advised that there was a problem with the voters list at this time and that the opposition coalition should take its concerns to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“That’s a matter for them to take up with GECOM,” he said. He refused to link the PPP’s concerns about preparations for the May 11, 2015 general and regional elections with those by the coalition A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

Describing Granger as a political “Johnny-come-lately,” he said it was strange that the opposition was now raising concerns that the list has increased to 567,000 named. “It is interesting to see the Johnny-come-lately raising questions about the electoral process and about the list when all the time they were saying they were happy,” he said.

Opposition Leader, David Granger on Sunday raised concerns about the voters list, saying that it was “dirty” and would have to be fixed for the upcoming polls and all future general elections.

GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally has already said the seven-member commission has been considering additional measures to remove the names of deceased persons on the list/

Surujbally, too, has attributed the increased number of eligible voters to more persons having been able to acquire birth certificates and an aggressive public education campaign by GECOM and political parties.

Latest available statistics provided to Demerara Waves Online News show that in all regions, the number of eligible voters has grown by 91,629 since the 2011 general elections.