The Opposition has moved to the High Court seeking to postpone the June 12, 2023, Local Government Elections (LGE) over what it deemed unlawful changes to the Local Authority Areas (LAAs), and voter fraud, among others.
In a Fixed Date Application (FDA) filed by the A Partnership National Unity Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph, she contended that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) acted unlawfully when it changed the boundaries of 37 constituencies in 19 Local LAAs.
According to Smith-Joseph, the changes in the constituencies and LAAs violate Article 72 of the Constitution of Guyana and Section 3 (1) (a) and (b) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act Cap. 28:03.
Moreover, the Chief Scrutineer contends that the LGE, which was last held in 2018, should be postponed until GECOM performs its functions in accordance with the law.
Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC, will hear the matter on May 30.
During his weekly press conference, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on Thursday claimed that GECOM seems not to be interested in the law but instead in the political direction of the ruling party.
He added that the party anticipated that if the matter was not reported to the Police, GECOM would have directed them to do such.
The Opposition has been hosting protest action in front of GECOM, calling for a clean voters list, noting that the current one is riddled with fraud.
The Alliance For Change – a minority party in the Opposition Coalition – had backed out of the Local Government Elections until the official List of Electors is purged of contaminants and fraud.
