Jagdeo to meet with GECOM to iron out critical issues ahead of elections

– slams misinformation campaign to stoke confusion by APNU/AFC

Slamming the opposition, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) for its campaign of misinformation ahead of the upcoming elections, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that he will be meeting with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) next Tuesday.
During his most recent press conference, the Vice President revealed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha, was asked to write GECOM and a meeting was set up.
“I thought it necessary to meet formally with GECOM to express our view. We have had the Executive Secretary write GECOM and next Tuesday, I’ll be meeting with GECOM to address these matters, and to debunk some of the nonsense that we see in the media in relation to this matter,” Jagdeo said.
According to Jagdeo, who also serves as the PPP/C’s General Secretary, the opposition has been manufacturing a series of false challenges surrounding the upcoming general elections.

He asserted that there are no legitimate concerns with the electoral system in Guyana and called them out for attempting to create distractions and misrepresent facts about the country’s electoral process.
The Vice President noted that the current system in place is both robust and reliable, and there is no truth to allegations that the elections are in jeopardy.
The Vice President condemned the APNU+AFC’s efforts to distort the history of previous elections, asserting that the opposition was attempting to sow doubt regarding GECOM’s ability to oversee free and fair elections.
“I wish to address one issue right at the beginning, that represents an ongoing saga of the opposition trying to distort the history of them trying to rig elections and trying to cast doubt now on GECOM’s ability to conduct free and fair elections, as a distraction from that record but also as an excuse from the impending defeat they will face at the polls.”
“On Thursday last GECOM met with Nigel Hughes at his request. And he came out and said, GECOM is incapable of holding elections. And the next day they issued a press release and spoke of GECOM’s disarray in the lead up to the elections.”
The Vice President pointed out that if anyone was in disarray in the lead up to the elections, it would be the opposition. According to Jagdeo, the real problem during the 2020 elections was an alleged attempt by the opposition to manipulate the process with the assistance of GECOM staff.

Jagdeo also referenced a recent ruling from GECOM’s Chairman, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh, who declared that the use of biometrics would be unconstitutional without new legislation to support it.
While acknowledging that there are some challenges in the electoral process, Jagdeo pointed out that GECOM has identified seven major issues that, he assured, could be resolved without difficulty.
The Opposition-aligned commissioners on the seven-member Elections Commission have been advocating for the implementation of biometric fingerprint identification for voting, in order to prevent voter fraud at the 2025 polls, which is slated for later this year.
Last year, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud had presented to the GECOM a feasibility study on the use of electronic fingerprint biometrics for registration and voting in the next elections.
In a recent ruling by Chairperson of GECOM, retired Justice Claudette Singh had rejected the proposal, citing legal, technical, security and infrastructural challenges its implementation could pose. The decision by GECOM Chairman had clarified that the introduction of such technology is not feasible within the current time-frame and legislative framework.
The Opposition has been critical of the GECOM Chairperson’s decision, noting that biometrics voting provides a crucial step toward mitigating electoral fraud by ensuring that each voter’s identity is verified before they cast their ballot.