Guyana’s Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton Tuesday dismissed a suggestion by the British High Commissioner, Jane Miller, that the existing voters list could be used with current safeguards for the local government election (LGE) scheduled for early 2023.
“The British High Commissioner must not be allowed to go against the wishes of the Guyanese people,” Norton told a news conference, adding that “while we pursue good relations with all countries, we are committed to ensuring our decisions are made by the people of Guyana and therefore we abhor the attempt by any diplomat to impose their will on the people of Guyana”.
Last weekend, Miller said Guyana’s voters list was being updated and could be used to hold the general election with sufficient safeguards in place, and based on existing rules Guyanese residing overseas could not be taken off the national database of registrants.
The British diplomat told the online publication that she understood that United States, Canada and the European Union all want to see that the voters list is properly updated and that “there are mechanisms in place on the day of voting to make sure that people are turning up only once and that they have identification that is on that list”.
But Norton, whose People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), is the biggest partner in the opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), told reporters that the Guyanese people “have long concluded that the present voters list is bloated and therefore we need no one to tell us that with safeguards the list can be used”.
He said what is more worrying is that the British diplomat “was informed about the reality surrounding the list when the APNU met with the ABEC (America, Britain, Canada, and the European Union) countries.
“It is interesting that the ABEC countries chose to be briefed together but the British high commissioner chose to go it all alone in making her ill-informed comments. the high commissioner must be reminded that all the observers to the 2020 elections underscored the need for a clean voters list,” Norton said, reminding Miller that the opposition has called for biometrics at the place of poll.
“The British high commissioner must tell us if the safeguards she is referring to include biometrics at the place of poll. We reiterate our position that we will continue to struggle for a clean voters list since credible elections demand a credible list
CMC/
