Elections

Foreign Minister meets E.U., US Ambassadors: Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Karen Cummings last Monday met separately with United States (US) Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch and the Ambassador of the European Union (EU), Fernando Ponz Cantó and electoral assistance and ongoing co-operation were on the agenda. A release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that highlighting the importance of the upcoming general elections, Dr. Cummings “gave the reassurance that the Guyana Government would remain impartial while allowing the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to finalise preparations”. The release said that Lynch gave her reassurance that all ongoing projects in Guyana funded by the United States would continue to be implemented as scheduled. Cantó was accompanied by members of an EU exploratory electoral mission. On September 19, the US, United Kingdom and the EU issued a statement calling for a date for general elections and warning that the government was in breach of the constitution.

Time for GECOM chair to make decision on HtH data, commissioners say: GECOM commissioners say that Chairperson, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh, has been called upon to make a definitive decision on the use of the date collected during the recent House to House exercise (HtH). Speaking with reporters on Tuesday following the commission’s longest meeting to date, governmentnominated commissioner Charles Corbin said that on the matter of HtH “all issues have been properly ventilated and positions have been adopted.” “At this point it is a question of decisions,” he stressed. “At this point in time the chairman will have to weigh in with a definitive position on which way to go,” Corbin maintained, while reminding that when Justice Singh decided to bring HtH to a premature end, she announced that the data collected “must be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants Database.”

Ali unfazed by new parties: People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate Irfaan Ali says he is not fazed by the formation of new parties and their possible impact on his chances at the upcoming general elections. “I don’t think the small parties will contribute to the splitting of the PPP/C vote,” Ali, who has been criticized for a low public profile, said on Sunday. The PPP/C presidential candidate did not say if the PPP/C was open to coalescing with any of the smaller parties but said that the members of those parties are welcome to join the PPP/C and work towards his party’s goals. “The PPP/C has made it very clear that we are open to all Guyanese; to anyone that wants to come on board. What we are open to, though, is coming on board to join a programme… of policies and principles and objectives that the PPP would embrace in the next government. Not coming on board to negotiate positions prior to elections and that sort of behaviour we are seeing now,” Ali said.

Badal says no coalescing with APNU+AFC or PPP/C: Disputing that he is a supporter of any of the parties in the governing APNU+AFC coalition, Change Guyana presidential candidate Robert Badal said that his party will not coalesce with either APNU+AFC or the PPP/C but has not ruled out joining with smaller parties. “We will not be part of the two major political parties… because they don’t share the same values and they have not shown a track record of performance,” Badal, owner of Guyana Stockfeeds Limited and the Pegasus Hotel told Stabroek News yesterday in an interview. “We would not be joining at all because I don’t think we share the same values and principles. As it relates to smaller parties, we will listen, have conversations with other parties to understand their values and their principles and if converged and we can work together … of course, we can do that,” he added.