AFC questions GECOM preparedness for 2011 election

Georgetown : The Alliance For Change executive member Martin Chung this afternoon briefing the media said, the AFC has noted with concern the conflicting reports regarding the preparedness of GECOM to successfully stage the upcoming Regional and General Elections within the constitutional time frame. He said the party was reliably informed that the major constraint to GECOM being able to achieve this deadline – is the timely disbursement of funds from the Government.

In light of the fact that all the major parties have selected their respective presidential candidates, signaling their readiness to participate in these elections, the AFC calls on the Government to ensure that all necessary funding be made available to GECOM.

Chung said with the commencement of the final stage of the registration process, the AFC will like to restate their concerns about the number of persons who are unable to register because of the lack of source documents. The right to vote is a constitutionally guaranteed right, thus all efforts should be made by all the relevant authorities inclusive of paying for services of personnel such as: notary public services, wavering of application fees for new birth certificates and the establishment of a special unit within the registration office, to ensure the speedy processing of new applications during the claims and objections period.