– Warns of veiled attempts to influence voters by other organizations
The work of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its official documents should be the foundation upon which voters’ education is done in the country, and not by rogue elements of society who collude with pro-opposition entities.
These were the remarks of General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo during his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.
“We’ve made it clear from the government that GECOM is responsible for voters’ education. GECOM should educate the voters of this country as to their rights and obligations,” he said.
Dr Jagdeo pointed to the amendments made to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), the legislation which governs the electoral process.
In one of the amendments, GECOM is tasked with setting out specific guidelines and timelines with regards to the preparation of manuals by election officials. It also highlights that these manuals must be made public months before the date of the elections.
This, the general secretary says, must be the guiding voice behind raising awareness.
“So, the manual will be detailed long before the elections. That is what needs to be popularized. Not some group coming in from abroad and linking up with some of these APNU supporters and then disguise it under a [non-governmental organization] and say they are going to work on turn out,” he pointed out.
Dr Jagdeo pointed to instances where anti-government entities such as the Red Thread and the Guyana Human Rights Association have been part of groups vying for funding to do voters’ education, despite their known political alignment.
“So, I hope no…international organization will come and tell us that they are going to give grants to these bodies to do voters’ education…we will oppose it as the Peoples Progressive Party,” he pointed out.
The general secretary said that he was recently made aware of the hiring of a group by the European Union to “do some form of voters’ education”.
This process, however, was mired because of the exclusion of specific sections of society, including the Hindu and Muslim communities.
“We’re not going to be lured into this sort of thing because they’re offering [money] here,” he said.
Dr Jagdeo said that the government, through Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira has already expressed its dissatisfaction with this move.