Dissolution of Parliament dependent on word from GECOM

DPI, Guyana, Friday, September 6, 2019

Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon today reiterated that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must give the go-ahead before any decision on elections can be made.

This includes the dissolution of Parliament which, he stressed has to be done by His Excellency, President David Granger.

Addressing the media today, the Director-General said the issue of the dissolution of Parliament is a process in the elections itself.

“The president has made it clear that he is not going to dissolve Parliament nor name a date for elections until such time that he is advised by the Guyana Elections Commission that it is ready for credible elections,” DG Harmon said at the post-Cabinet press briefing.

“He has also said publicly that once he is advised by GECOM that it is ready that he will name a date for the elections in the shortest time.”

According to the Harmon, the government has already said it respects the decisions of the commission, which he said, should also be given the time to do the work it is being paid to do.

Addressing GECOM’s merging of the House-to-House Registration data, he clarified that there will be a cross-matching of the list produced from the exercise and the current list that exists. Harmon said at no time will the House-to-House data be put into one bundle with the current existing National Register of Registrants (NRR).

He further explained that the extended claims and objection period will be for persons whose names are not on the list or who have credible information that the name of other persons should be removed, e.g. deceased relatives.

According to the Director-General, the political opposition fully understands the process, but is making an issue with the “merging”. He said it has not yet been able to offer any practical alternative to deal with the matter in a timely way.