Elecciones generales: partidos entregan lista de candidatos y realizan tradicional desfile
Today is Nomination Day
With the May 11 General and Regional Elections just about a month away, Nominations Day will be held today and all the political parties desirous of contesting the elections have indicated their readiness and preparedness for the event.
The event will be held, as usual, at the City Hall, where parties will be entering from the Avenue of the Republic entrance.
At approximately 13:30h today, the parties will be presenting their List of Candidates. This event is considered the most important one before Elections Day.
In preparations for Nominations Day, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has held several meetings with the various political parties to discuss and inform them of the procedures and arrangements for this day.
On City Hall’s end, acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba had engaged Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on having adequate security in place for the event.
Guyana Times on Monday, contacted some of the political parties, which indicated their preparedness for Nominations Day.
Executive Member of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Dr Rupert Roopnarine related that everything is in place and final checks were being made before the APNU/AFC (Alliance For Change) Coalition present their List.
He noted that the leaders of the Coalition will be accompanied by hundreds of supporters as they march from the Square of the Revolution to City Hall. He noted that plans were in the making to have a meeting at the Parade Ground afterwards but at the time he was speaking to this newspaper, he was not sure whether it will happen.
Asked whether the APNU/AFC Coalition is satisfied with the arrangements that were made to facilitate Nominations Day, he noted that apart for minor changes from the previous Nominations Day everything seems to be “fine”.
During the last Nominations proceedings back in 2011, the PNC/R-led APNU supporters had stormed the gates of City Hall, throwing down barricades in the process while disobeying instructions from the police to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.
It is hoped that similar behavioural patters would not occur this time again even as the new coalition group is appealing to its supporters to come out in their numbers.
Meanwhile, the top officials of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will also be leading hundreds of supporters from the party’s Freedom House headquarters on Robb Street, Georgetown, to City Hall.
General Secretary of the party, Clement Rohee, stated that the party is well prepared for the Nominations Day events. He noted that the party has made all the arrangements and their List is ready to be submitted.
When asked if the party is satisfied with the arrangements made by GECOM and the City Hall, Rohee point out “we have no reasons to complain about anything so far”.
On the other hand, this newspaper also spoke with two of the smaller parties. The United Republican Party (URP)’s leader, Vishnu Bandhu, outlined that the party was at the time ironing out some final details on their List of Candidates before submitting it. He added that the party is generally satisfied with the way in which the arrangements were made ahead of today’s event.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Healing the Nation Theocracy Party (HTNTP) Alfred Park also indicated his party’s readiness for the event, noting that they plan to be at the City Hall early since the process will be done via a first come, first serve basis. Park also praised GECOM for all the work it is doing and has done thus far in preparations for the May 11 Elections.
Immediately after Nominations Day, the Code of Conduct for political parties to be endorsement will be available. On Nominations Day the parties through their respective Representative and Deputy Representative will present their List of Candidates.
GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally told the Guyana Times that all systems are in place for the much-anticipated event which will be facilitated at City Hall in Georgetown.
A meeting was recently held with all the political parties, and according to Dr Surujbally, the political leaders were satisfied with the preparations made thus far by the Commission.
The parties were educated thoroughly on the laws despite their previous knowledge. “They all know how things will happen and what they have to do,” Dr Surujbally said.
Today, political parties will know whether they are eligible to contest the upcoming polls. On this day, the parties through their respective Representative and Deputy Representative will present their Lists of Candidates. According to a GECOM advisory, the Representative or the Deputy in submitting the list to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) must ensure that it is submitted in the prescribed form, noting too that a Statutory Declaration will be required for each candidate and for the President named in the National Top-List.
GECOM says no one on the List could be on more than one Geographical Constituencies’ List. The Representative must also ensure that the necessary corrections are made and submitted to the CEO no later than the 29th day before Election Day.
If a List of Candidates is in any way defective, the party will be required to make an application in writing to the CEO for the allocation of a symbol no later than the 32nd day before Election Day. This symbol must be approved by the Elections Commission.
