APNU satisfied with GECOM’s work, but voter education programme needs a boost – Harmon

By Jomo Paul

[www.inewsguyana.com] – General Secretary of A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), Joseph Harmon says the partnership is confident in the ability of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to provide “free, fair and transparent” elections on May 11.

Harmon, responding to questions posed by the media, said it is important that the public trust in GECOM be at optimum given that elections are due soon.

He posited that the partnership has some concerns with GECOM but it is expected that those will be ironed out before elections are due.

“While we still have some issues that they are working on, we have always said that we believe that GECOM possesses the competence to deliver free fair and transparent elections,” Harmon said, adding that “we are satisfied that they are working on these issues.”

According to him, based on what the partnership has observed thus far, APNU believes that sufficient processes are in place to ensure that credible elections can be delivered.

“I believe all Guyanese should give GECOM the support it needs as an independent entity to deliver the results,” Harmon noted.

However, the APNU General Secretary contended that GECOM has certain limits because the administration has a “sword of Damocles over the head of GECOM.”

When asked about the code of conduct, Harmon proffered that the People’s Progressive Party has a history of ignoring the code of conduct and he does not believe that anything will change for the elections campaign leading up to the May 11 polls.

Harmon reiterated the need for there to be a boosted voter education programme coming from the electoral body.

He insisted that what is being done at present is not enough, noting that the advertisements being placed in the local media are not enough for the process to have its intended effect.