PPP to take to the streets against illegal GECOM appointment

… Jagdeo vows to fight to ensure free and fair elections in 2020
…calls on all Guyanese to support protest actions

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has formally endorsed the plans of its leadership in relation to Head of State David Granger’s unilateral appointment of Justice (rtd) James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and will soon be taking to the streets as part of measures to ensure the conditions for free, fair and transparent elections are restored and met, “both constitutionally and in the composition and practices of the institutions and persons tasked with this vital role.”

Opposition Leader and General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, held a high-level meeting with parliamentary Opposition members, Regional Democratic Councillors, members of the PPP Central and Executive Committees and the three Opposition-appointed GECOM Commissioners.
The Party has since formally endorsed Jagdeo’s initial pronouncement on “the unilateral appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM by President David Granger, at night on 19th October, 2017, and, the response to this undemocratic, unlawful, unconstitutional act by the President, and, the extent of the ‘non-cooperation’ actions announced by the Leader of the Opposition in his press statement on the evening of October 19, 2017.”
Among the measures endorsed by the Party’s leadership, the PPP will “launch picketing exercises, petitions, appeals, vigils, marches and other peaceful forms of protest to highlight the issues relating to the undemocratic, unilateral, and illegal appointment of the Chairman of the GECOM.”
The measures were announced as part of an official party policy to adopt a policy of critical non-participation in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) governmental activities throughout the length and breadth of Guyana.
As it relates to the Party’s participation in the National Assembly, the Party has officially stated that it will continue to fight “in some aspects of the National Assembly and at the GECOM, to protect the integrity of the electoral machinery by undertaking meetings, in and out of Guyana, with the representatives of foreign countries and international institutions, to expose the extent and import of constitutional violations by the Granger APNU/AFC regime.”
Among the measures adopted by the Party’s leadership is to “challenge by court action in the courts and at the Caribbean Court of Justice, as necessary, the steps undertaken by President Granger to subvert and thwart the spirit, letter, and intent of the Constitution.”
The Party is expected to also roll out a countrywide sensitisation campaign as it relates to “the ongoing threat to democracy and the Guyana Constitution and to resist the stealthy move to an authoritarian state; undertake meetings countrywide to sensitise the Guyanese people and to use other means, including social media and the media, to the reasons, for non-cooperation, and on the progress of the campaign.”
The Party also intends to brief and consult civic society bodies which participated in the consultations and which produced the 18 individuals whose names were submitted by the Leader of the Opposition to the President for the post of Chairman of the GECOM between December 2016 and August 2017, even as it consistently and regularly engage with national and regional stakeholders to hold Government accountable and ensure that democracy is not derailed.
The political party has already pulled out of participation in the Border Commission which was slated to meet this week following a recent flare-up in relations between the two countries.
The Opposition Leader on Thursday last met briefly with the Head of State, who informed him that the third list of nominees for the post of GECOM Chairman was unacceptable and that Justice (rtd) Patterson would be appointed.
The President formally rejected the third list on Thursday and immediately swore in Justice (rtd) Patterson who was himself notified only hours earlier.
The Opposition Leader subsequently met with media operatives and announced that the Party would be embarking on a countrywide campaign of non-cooperation with Government.
Following Friday’s high-level meeting, the Party formally communicated its formalised scope of intended actions. Meanwhile, the Party also responded to the women’s arm of the Alliance For Change which was on Friday critical of Jagdeo’s threats.
According to the PPP, “we have also noted the sycophantic ramblings of the AFC apologists in their response to the Leader of the Opposition… So desperate to prove their loyalty to the APNU, the AFC accused the Leader of the Opposition of an unpatriotic stance of non-cooperation and civil disobedience and promised to hold him personally responsible.
The Party in its formal statement said “the Leader of the Opposition shall not be intimidated by the corrupt cowards of the AFC whose only interest in governance is their personal well-being and enjoyment of the perks of office.”
According to the Party, it “has been down this path before in similar situations in the past, and, we, as a party and our supporters, have prevailed and we overcame with the restoration of democracy on October 5, 1992.”
The Party has since called on “all Guyanese, both as individuals and institutions, to become fully acquainted with the issue of the unilateral appointment of GECOM Chairman Patterson; the repeated assaults on democracy; and support the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protests in consistent interventions to protect Guyana’s democracy.”