GECOM informs AFC, Forward Guyana, WIN of defective lists

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has notified three political parties, the Alliance for Change (AFC), the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), and We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), of defects in their submitted candidate lists for the September 1 General and Regional Elections, giving them until midnight on Thursday to make corrections.
Alliance For Change (AFC) is headed by Presidential Candidate Nigel Hughes, while We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) is headed by Presidential Candidate United States-sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed, and Forward Guyana is headed by former People’s National Congress Reform executive Amanza Walton-Desir.
Representatives of all three parties have confirmed that they were contacted by GECOM about defects in their lists.

When contacted today, AFC’s David Patterson said the issue was related to two of its regional lists, noting that the issue related to the maximum requirement of candidates not being met. One of the regions is Region Nine.
“We were contacted about some minor issues. They are saying that they wanted the maximum candidates in certain regions; we were one or two short… They’re saying we have to submit no less than 15 and no more than 25… I think by now it’s resolved internally, but we haven’t submitted back as yet,” Patterson said.
According to Patterson, it is only the party’s list for the regional elections that was affected, while the national top list and geographical constituency lists, which are needed to contest seats in the National Assembly, were not affected.
“The geographical list was perfect; the national top-up list was perfect,” Patterson said.

Though the party has until this evening to make the corrections, Patterson noted that he is confident that the party will be able to submit the corrections to GECOM by the end of Wednesday.
With regards to WIN, a spokesperson informed that the issues surrounded the repetition of names on the list.
Meanwhile, though Walton-Desir confirmed that her party was contacted by GECOM about defects to the list, she would not say what the identified defects were and would only say that the party would be releasing a statement shortly.
If the parties are unable to rectify the issues outlined, they will not qualify to contest the upcoming elections on September 1.
AFC, WIN, and FGM are among the seven parties that have submitted lists of candidates to contest the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
The other parties that submitted lists are the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), with Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali; A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), with Presidential Candidate Aubrey Norton; and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), which is headed by former PNCR Minister Simona Broomes. The Horizon and Star Party, led by Hubert Maloney, also made a submission to GECOM. Guyana Times has not been able to confirm if any of the other parties’ lists are defective/require correction.
Parties can submit Regional Lists to contend for seats in respective Regional Democratic Councils (RDC) across the country and must submit a National Top-Up List and Geographical Constituency List to contest the General Electionsand vie for seats in the National Assembly.
Of the 65 elected members in Guyana’s National Assembly, 25 are elected from the 10 geographical constituencies and the remaining 40 from the national top-up list. Parties have to ensure that one-third of the candidates nominated are female.
Each party’s National Top-Up List should comprise 300-330 nominators, 42 candidates (persons to be elected to sit in the National Assembly), who all need a signed statutory declaration form in the presence of a Commissioner of Oaths or Justice of Peace, and include the name of the presidential candidate.
The Statutory Declaration form is what candidates sign to indicate that they are Guyanese and conform to other requirements set out in the law, such as that they are not a citizen of any other country.
The Geographical Constituency (Administrative Regions) List must include 150-175 nominators from each constituency.
For those contesting the regional elections, the Regional Democratic Council List must comprise 150-175 nominees for each constituency, all residing in the said region, and 12 to 36 candidates also from within the region. They, too, are required to sign a statutory form.
Candidates and Nominators can only appear on one party’s list, including on both the National Top-up and Geographical Constituency Lists, but can only appear on one of that party’s geographical lists.
If any of these issues are detected with the lists, the respective parties are informed and allowed to make the necessary amendments.
GECOM has software that it has been using since 2006, which has been fine-tuned over the years, to run the lists from each political party to identify defects such as repetition of names where they ought not to be.
GECOM will give final approval or disapproval of the lists on July 18. Thereafter, provisions are made for any party to take legal action to contest GECOM’s decision.
During this time, parties can make withdrawals or notifications of the death of candidates to GECOM by July 15; submit withdrawals of lists by July 17; and submit notifications of the Joinder of Lists by July 21.
GECOM will then be publishing the final and approved lists, titles, and symbols on July 23 after a rigorous vetting process to ensure that all the submissions are in compliance with the various legal practices and procedures.