Court to deliver ruling on FGM’s legal challenge on Friday

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that the High Court will deliver its ruling on Friday at 2:00 pm in the case brought by the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The case was called on Wednesday morning for the FGM candidate’s attorney, Vivian Williams, in response to submissions made by GECOM’s attorney, Arudranauth Gossai and the Attorney General, Nandlall, SC.

The FGM is challenging GECOM’s decision to exclude the party and the ALP from the ballots in five electoral districts.

Speaking to the media at the High Court, AG Nandlall stated that the country’s electoral system is rooted in constitutional and statutory provisions and on that basis, GECOM maintains that only the political parties contesting a geographic constituency are eligible to appear on ballots.

According to the AG, Guyana’s electoral framework is structured around ten constituencies, and parties that fail to submit lists for certain areas cannot be represented.

AG Nandlall stated that since the FGM decided not to contest in Regions Seven, Eight, and Nine, they cannot expect to appear on the ballots in those geographic constituencies.

The exclusion resulted in a legal action by an FGM candidate who stated that her right to vote for her preferred party was being violated. In court, attorney Williams argued that GECOM’s is unlawful and unconstitutional.

AG Nandlall dismissed the argument as too vague to rise to a constitutional issue. He stressed that Williams had failed to show any specific statutory or constitutional provision being breached and, instead, relied on broad claims about democratic rights.

Nandlall also noted that the attorney appeared to shift his position late in the proceedings, introducing new arguments he described as “a desperate attempt to salvage a weak case.”

The legal affairs minister further stated, “You cannot make these broad allegations that citizens are being denied their rights to participate in the electoral process, and that this deprivation of their right is undemocratic and is violative of the Constitution.”

The Attorney General maintained that both his Chambers and GECOM will seek costs if the application is dismissed, warning that poorly grounded challenges have the potential to cause serious disruption so close to the upcoming general and regional elections.

“The public importance and public interest will supersede your alleged reasons, especially when that grievance is completely and wholly without merit, which I am contending it is,” AG Nandlall asserted.