Elections

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch Tuesday night cited the need for democracy and an independent civil society to sustain private sector growth and development. “Together with sound, democratic governance and an independent and active civil society, the private sector here has the opportunity to thrive and Guyana has the opportunity to become one of the wealthiest countries in ...

The Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), James Patterson, has informed President David Granger that general elections should be possible in November 2019 after house-to-house registration, but the opposition People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) elections commissioners said such a process is not grounded in law or policy. “In consideration of all of the above, the fulfillment of the various conditions ...

Britain on Monday called on Guyana’s political leaders to find a solution to resolve the looming political crisis as the 90-day timeframe within which General and Regional Elections should be held following last December’s no-confidence motion runs out on Thursday. British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn made it clear that he was not about to interpret this country’s constitution. ...

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) on Monday said the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) did not provide information to prove whether elections commissioner Robeson Benn’s claim that more than 90 percent of the workers there are Afro-Guyanese. The ERC also said Benn, who had first raised the issue and had triggered a complaint by his People’s Progressive Party (PPP) did not ...

By GHK Lall It does not appear that there is anything on which the government and opposition can agree regarding the elections machinery as a whole, and the state of elections readiness by GECOM. To repeat for emphasis: almost nothing, if absolutely not anything. So there is a hard, jarring standstill on most things, except the clashing rhetoric, which only ...

President David Granger and his government might remain in office as a matter of “necessity” if he does not first give into Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo’s demands to name an election date first before the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) support to extend the 90-day time-frame within which Guyanese must go to the polls, officials said. “The debate arises: what happens ...

President David Granger on Friday cited the need for opposition support to aid him in setting a date for “credible” general elections at the “earliest possible date”, as the 90-day timeframe after the passage of the no-confidence motion expires next week Thursday. “They demand political cooperation, not confrontation,” he said in a pre-recorded address to the nation, from the Ministry ...

Indictable criminal charges of conspiracy by three Elections Commissioners to breach Guyana’s Constitution were dismissed by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. The three Guyana Elections Commissioners, all government-appointed, are Charles Corbin, Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman. Attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin, who filed the private criminal charges on behalf of Civil Engineer Marcel Gaskin, said the High Court would be asked to compel ...

The seven-member Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is embroiled in fresh controversy over the timeframe for holding general elections, with the opposition party-appointed commissioners denying that voting was underway on house-to-house registration and the ruling APNU+AFC-backed commissioners stating that the motion was passed. The three opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) elections commissioners – Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn – ...

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday disclosed that he and former US President, Jimmy Carter of the Carter Centre held telephone discussions last week, but the former Guyanese leader declined to give any details. Jagdeo said he preferred to await another discussion with Carter after he and President David Granger had spoken. “I thought it’s necessary for Guyanese to know ...