Court upholds GECOM’s decision to exclude FGM from ballot in three regions

Chief Justice (ag) Navindra Singh on Friday ruled that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) acted within the law when it declined to place the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) on the ballot paper in Regions Seven, Eight and Nine for the upcoming elections.

FGM had taken the matter to the High Court, contending that it was wrongfully barred from contesting in those regions. However, Justice Singh concluded that GECOM’s actions were consistent with electoral law, which requires political parties to submit candidate lists in every district they wish to contest.

The court found that FGM failed to present lists for the three regions in question, effectively disqualifying itself from the ballot. A similar ruling was handed down against the Assembly for Liberty and Justice (ALJ), which also did not submit candidates in some areas.

“It would be unlawful for GECOM to include FGM on the ballot paper when they haven’t submitted a list for a particular geographical constituency,” the Chief Justice stated in his ruling.

The applications by both parties were dismissed in their entirety, with the issue of court costs still to be determined.