Amanza Walton’s FMG makes last-minute court bid to delay elections

The Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) has filed a High Court challenge against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), accusing the body of excluding duly approved political parties from ballots in several hinterland regions ahead of the September 1 General and Regional elections.
In a fixed-date application filed by attorney Dr Vivian Williams, FGM candidate Krystal Hadassah is seeking urgent constitutional relief under Part 56 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The party argues that GECOM’s ballot design violates Articles 59, 149, and 160 of the Constitution, as well as provisions of the Representation of the People Act (ROPA).
According to the affidavit, both FGM and the Assembly of Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) were approved to contest the upcoming polls. However, their names were not from ballots in Regions Seven, Eight, and Nine, and ALP in Regions One and Two. The parties claimed that they satisfied all legal requirements to contest nationally.
The claimants argue that the omission denies electors in those regions the right to vote for all qualified national lists, thereby undermining the principle of proportional representation. FGM contends that the move disproportionately affects Amerindian-majority communities, amounting to discrimination on the grounds of race and place of origin.
As a result, the application asks the court to declare elections held without full party inclusion null and void, restrain GECOM from excluding duly qualified parties from national ballots, direct that FGM’s list be added to ballots in Regions Seven, Eight, and Nine, and guarantee voters in Regions One, Two, Seven, Eight, and Nine are not denied participation.
At a press briefing, FGM presidential candidate Amanza Walton-Desir described the matter as one that “cuts to the heart of inclusionary democracy”.
“The court – this court challenge rather, is not just about the technicality. It is about giving the people of Guyana the knowledge and fair choices they need to make the right choices come September 1 and indeed in any election we are going to have in this country. When voters are denied the full truth of their options, democracy itself is weakened. And so, the Forward Guyana Movement stands possibly as David against the Goliath of the ruling PPP and a complicit GECOM, insisting that every Guyanese from the hinterland to the coast deserves a fair chance to choose their future,” Walton-Desir said.
Walton-Desir told reporters that while GECOM had previously issued guidance indicating all parties meeting requirements would be included in the national contest, the printed ballots contradicted that commitment.
She further stressed that the exclusion could distort national results, given that proportional allocation of seats depends on the total number of votes cast countrywide.
“What is the use of providing a minimum standard if you are going to then retract that and tell people you have to abide by the maximum? What is the use of saying to the electorate that in order to qualify to participate in the general elections, you must meet the threshold of being able to compete in six districts, and then you exclude them from the general elections? And so this cuts to the question of how our ballots are presented. It begs the question as to whether there needs to be a national ballot, a geographic constituency ballot, and a regional ballot. So all of these matters are matters that we want clarified because the forward-gain movement does not intend to proceed just being dragged along. We want clarity, we want the courts to pronounce, and we want GECOM to get its act together,” she added.
Guyana Times was told that up to press time GECOM has not been served with any proceedings.

Rubbished
Meanwhile, one local attorney has since rubbished the legal action filed by the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), branding it one of the most illogical challenges ever brought before the courts.
According to the attorney, taking legal proceedings to be on the ballot in regions where a person is not contesting is illogical. He stressed that the law is clear: political parties must field candidates and meet prescribed requirements in each region if they wish to appear on that region’s ballot. Additionally, another attorney has since said that ballots are tied to regional participation, meaning that if a party does not contest in a particular district, its name cannot appear on the general election ballot in that region.

Ballots
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) recently confirmed that a total of 757,690 electors are on the voters list for the September 1 General and Regional Election.
Of that number, the Commission has also confirmed that some 10,481 members of the Joint Services will exercise their franchise this Friday ahead of the national polls, in keeping with longstanding practice to ensure they can be deployed across the country on Election Day.
The Commission is finalising arrangements to ensure a smooth process, including the establishment of 2790 polling stations across the country. Of this number, 62 polling stations will be located at private residences.
The GECOM has also confirmed that ballot papers for the September 1 polls have been dispatched to Guyanese diplomatic missions abroad, while local distribution to Returning Officers across the 10 administrative regions is actively underway. The move signals that the Commission is firmly on track with preparations as the country heads into the final stretch before Election Day.