High Court throws out case challenging exclusion of FGM on certain ballots

– case should have never been filed in the first place, AG says

Chief Justice (ag) Navindra Singh on Friday afternoon dismissed a case brought by Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), which argued that they ought to have been placed on ballot papers in all regions, despite not contesting in some.

Brought by FGM candidate Krystal Fisher, the legal action challenged the Guyana Election Commission’s (GECOM) decision to omit the party from the ballot in Regions 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, although they had not lawfully contested in those regions.

According to GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, the Chief Justice made clear the reason behind his decision.

“It would be unlawful for GECOM to include FGM on the ballot paper when they haven’t submitted a list for a particular geographical constituency,” the Chief Justice is reported as saying.

Speaking outside the courtroom after the Court awarded costs of $1 million each to GECOM and the Attorney General’s Chambers, Minister of Legal Affairs Mohabir Anil Nandlall said that the case should never have made its way to the High Court.

“The case should have never been filed…the judge pointed out that this framework of rules and the constitutional provisions have been there since 2000…you think 25 years would have passed and nobody would have seen this?” he argued.

The judge dismissed arguments that excluding the ballot violated constitutional rights to vote and participate in the democratic governance mechanism.

As a result of this ruling, GECOM will move forward with the elections as planned, and the ballots across all 10 administrative regions will feature only those parties that filed the required geographic lists.