GUYANA-Disciplinary forces voting ahead of the September 1 poll in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Members of the Disciplined Forces were casting ballots here on Friday as the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) brushed aside efforts by a small opposition coalition to go to the High Court to challenge its exclusion from the ballots for the September 1 general and regional election in regions that it is not contesting for council seats.

GECOM said there are 83 balloting stations and 67 ballot boxes for Friday’s polling and that 10,481 members of the Disciplined Services are eligible to vote, including 6,909 members of the Disciplined Services, 3,106 soldiers, and 466 prison service employees.

According to the report, 92 persons working at 20 diplomatic missions are listed to vote, and returns from two Diplomatic Missions have already been received in a sealed ballot box.

Six candidates are contesting the position of President during the elections. They are the incumbent, President Irfaan Ali of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Aubrey Norton of the main coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Nigel Hughes of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Azruddin Mohamed of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party, Amanza Walton-Desir of the Forward Guyana Movement and the leader of the Assembly for Liberty & Prosperity (ALP) movement, Dr. Simona Broomes.

Seven political parties are contesting the elections, but political observers say that the race will be a contest mainly between the PPP/C and the APNU.

But, the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), which comprises the Forward Guyana (FG), The People’s Movement (TPM), and the Vigilant Political Action Committee (V-PAC), is seeking an order restraining the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from proceeding with the elections unless its list of candidates is duly included on the ballots in all 10 electoral regions, in keeping with the country’s Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.

The FGM is also seeking declarations that GECOM’s practice in excluding political parties contesting the national elections from appearing on the ballot in specific geographic regions violates the Applicant’s rights, as well as the rights of voters in those regions, to vote and to equal suffrage under Article 59 of the Constitution.

But speaking at his weekly news conference, PPP/C general secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, said the strength of the case by the small opposition party is weak.

He said that the FGM leader, Amanza Walton-Desir, is seeking relevance and that “nobody pays attention to Amanza Walton and her dead campaign.

“It’s just a lawsuit designed to draw attention to herself because she has no campaign,” Jagdeo said, questioning how a political party could be on the ballot paper if a list of candidates were not submitted.

Jagdeo said the FGM did not submit geographical candidates for those districts and so could not be on the ballot. “It’s nonsensical,” he said, referring to Section 11 (C ) 1 of the Representation of the People Act.

According to the legislation, “Every elector shall have only one vote which shall be cast in the geographical constituency in which he is registered and votes in respect of the list of his choice, and that vote shall be counted to determine the outcomes of both the election for that geographical constituency and for the country taken as a whole: a vote for a Party’s geographical constituency list is simultaneously a vote for that Party’s national top-up list.”

In its court papers, the FGM wants the High Court to rule that GECOM includes all political parties contesting the national elections on the ballot papers in all geographic regions.

Meanwhile, Jagdeo has also dismissed efforts by the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party to write to the United Nations (UN) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), citing political discrimination and financial persecution.

The letter not only highlights the “plight” faced by candidates in the lead up to the elections, but also calls on the global and regional leaders to heap pressure on several local banks by condemning their decision to terminate the accounts of the political candidates for the party, and demand that those accounts be reinstated.

“These actions are not based on any breach of law, financial irregularity, or misconduct. It has become evident that the decision by these banks to take this approach is due to our members’ decision to support the WIN part, which is led by Azruddin Mohamed, a Guyanese businessman whose businesses were sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).”

WIN has called on CARICOM to condemn the actions of political persecution and to urge the banks to reinstate all affected accounts. WIN is also calling on CARICOM to deploy a team of observers to investigate and report on the violations.

On June 11, 2024, OFAC imposed sanctions on the billionaire businessman for allegedly evading US$50 million in taxes payable to the Guyana government on more than 10,000 kilograms of gold exports.

Following the sanctions, the Bank of Guyana revoked the Mohameds’ cambio and gold trading licences. Since then, Demerara Bank Limited, GBTI, and now Citizens Bank have all shut down accounts linked to individuals associated with the family.

The United States has denied any involvement in seeking to determine the outcome of the September 1 general and regional election here, with its Ambassador Nicole Theriot saying “we have absolutely no interest in interfering in your elections”.

Jagdeo told reporters that the latest statement by OFAC has further cemented what was known to be true about the association with Mohamed.

Jagdeo, who is also the country’s Vice President, said that this is contrary to the popular notion being peddled by the Mohameds on their campaign trail and that they are misleading the public instead of addressing the critical issues raised surrounding the sanctions.

“You remember the lie that they have been telling people outside of the Umana Yana? Azruddin Mohamed said ‘Oh, the sanctions only relate to my companies. They have nothing to do with anything else.’ Well, now, OFAC…says that people could be sanctioned too for dealing with the Mohameds,” Jagdeo said.

He dismissed the letters sent to the UN and CARICOM, saying they are all a stunt that exposes the desperation running in their camp.

“It’s all a PR (public relations) …no CARICOM country or the United Nations will tell a local bank how to derisk…because if they lose their banking relationships, they might as well shut down the banks,” Jagdeo said.

OFAC has warned that “financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to enforcement action.”