“Nonsensical” – Jagdeo on Amanza Walton-Desir FGM’s last-minute bid to delay elections

…says parties must field candidates in regions to appear on ballots

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Bharrat Jagdeo has labelled the court challenge mounted by the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) as nonsensical.

FGM, led by former APNU Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir, 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.
But Jagdeo told reporters during a press conference today that the arguments make no sense.
He posited, “If you don’t submit a list of candidates [for the geographical constituency], how will you be on the ballot for that region?”
“To qualify to contest the Presidential elections, you have to contest a minimum of six regions, which they did… But that doesn’t mean you’re going to be on the ballot for every region; you have to submit geographical candidates for every region to be on that region. She [Walton-Desir] did not submit the geographical candidates for three regions… So if you don’t submit…how do you expect to be on the ballot for those regions?” Jagdeo contended.
In fact, the PPP GS highlighted that this has been the procedure in previous elections, as recently as 2020.
Meanwhile, one local attorney has since rubbished the legal action filed by 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. The attorney 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.
On Wednesday, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) 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.
Declarations & orders sought
As a result, the applicant is asking to court to grant several orders under Part 56 of the Civil Procedure Rules including a declaration that 1) GECOM’s exclusion of political parties from ballots in certain regions violates constitutional rights to vote, equal suffrage (Article 59), and inclusionary democracy (Article 13); 2) Such exclusion is discriminatory based on place of origin and race, contrary to Article 149; 3) The practice distorts proportional representation, undermines representative democracy, and is unconstitutional; 4) The exclusion of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) from ballots in Regions Seven, Eight, and Nine denies its candidate’s constitutional right to contest free and fair elections; 5) any elections conducted without including all qualifying political parties on ballots in all regions are null and void.
The applicant is also asking the court to order that GECOM must include all political parties contesting national elections on ballots in all ten regions and that GECOM be restrained from conducting the General and Regional Elections unless FGM’s candidates are included on ballots in every region.