PNC’s election manipulation tactics exposed – GS Jagdeo

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration’s disapproval of a biometrics system,  as currently proposed by the opposition, stems not from fear of losing, but from concerns about potential loopholes in the electoral process and the disenfranchisement of voters.

In fact, the current voting system already has in place biometrics safeguards, that includes the capturing of individuals’ photographs and manual fingerprinting.

During a party press conference on Thursday, General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo reasoned that the real motive behind the opposition’s push for biometrics – is to deliberately prevent people from voting.

By implementing biometrics, power can be granted to the 2,500 presiding officers at the various polling station, to decide who can vote. By falsely claiming persons failed biometric verification, they can prevent someone from casting their ballot.

And according to Dr Jagdeo, this could ultimately lead to contested elections and political unrest in the country.

“The PNC’s inventiveness on stealing cannot be underestimated. They have done this as a science, they have developed this into a science – stealing elections from a very, very long time. And, we are watching at every attempt to sow confusion,” Dr Jagdeo stated when he was addressing the issue.

The opposition’s call for biometrics stems from their allegations of a bloated official list of electors (OLE), that includes dead persons, and persons who are not eligible to vote.

They have also accused the government of registering illegal Venezuelan migrants to vote, but have not provided a shred of evidence to substantiate their claims.

“They spoke about the list being bloated but refused to submit claims and objections [and] they said they will do it at an appropriate time. This has been the appropriate time; there is no appropriate time in the future,” the PPP GS highlighted.

Dr Jadeo accused the opposition, headed by Aubrey Norton, for repeatedly misleading their supporters and attempting to create chaos ahead of the 2025 general and regional elections.

This is evident in the picketing exercises organised by the PNCR outside of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). According to a Demerara Waves report, barely 15 or less persons have been showing up on the picketing lines.

“You know the reason why people are not showing up? It is because the PNC told too many lies; they have been lying to their base so frequently, that people just stopped believing them; this is a fact,” he noted.