DID THE PPP/C WIN A MAJORITY AT THE LAST ELECTIONS?

Aug 04, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

When Vincent Alexander made public the fact that there was a dispute over the computation of seats at the last elections, the media described his revelations as “electrifying”. This revelation was made almost eighteen months after the 2011 elections, and perhaps, had the contract of the Chief Elections Officer not been up for renewal, would not have gained such high publicity.
After all, no damage was done because of the “mistake” made by the Chief Elections Officer. The “mistake” was corrected before the final results were announced and therefore had no impact on the actual division of seats. Yet when this issue was resurrected, the media spoke about “electrifying” revelations.
Since then the debate about GECOM and the 2011 elections has continued. The Chief Elections Officer, in fact, has gone as far as indicating that the process of tabulating the votes was being observed by the Organization of American States. He has also stated that it was the Information Technology (IT) Department that was responsible for providing him with the results.
This, of course, has nothing to do with the actual calculation of the allocation of seats, but it does have a significant bearing on another revelation made this past week by another GECOM Commissioner.
What that Commissioner has said should be of importance to those who will today decide who should be elected to the Central Committee of the People’s Progressive Party.
It was revealed publicly, for the first time, that the votes from some 19 polling stations in Region Three were left out of the tabulation of votes for that Region. Strangely, the media has virtually ignored this revelation, and it must be asked why they are doing this.
The PPP/C won Region 3 comfortably, and while it is not yet known to the public just which are the constituencies that were left out of the tabulations, it is reasonable to conclude that it could very well be those areas in Region 3 where the PPP/C did well. If this is the case, then it means that the PPP/C was robbed of a majority in the National Assembly, because with the votes of these 19 polling stations, the PPP/C could have had its majority and even perhaps, using the Largest Remainder Hare quota, may have even gained an extra seat.
How then does the media not consider what was revealed an “electrifying” revelation, when it considered what Alexander revealed and which did not affect the declaration of the results, as “electrifying?” The media must explain itself.
It was up in arms over a mistake that had no bearing on the allocation of seats because it was corrected. Yet here is an allegation of a “beefsteak” and the media is strangely silent.
In next Sunday’s column, I will address what I believe is the source of the confusion over the use of the election formula. This, I believe, is necessary, because the issue of what should be the divisor has not, in my estimation, been settled and could in fact still lead to a constitutional challenge which if successful would have the effect of giving the PPP/C a majority in the National Assembly.
As such, this column will discuss what should be the right method of calculating the seat apportionment. It is important this issue of the calculations be settled, so that there is no confusion next time around.
For now, the delegates to the 30th Congress of the PPP should be asking their leaders if they knew about these 19 polling stations which were not tabulated in a Region which the PPP won comfortably, and if so, how was this mistake not picked up both in Freedom House and within the Region where the party would have had observers before the formal results of the Division were sent in.
Did the leaders of the PPP know about these 19 polling stations and did they accept the declared results just so as to avoid riots in the street? Did the leadership give up the majority it may have won simply to appease those who were planning to make trouble?
More importantly, was there a conspiracy within GECOM against the PPP, and did GECOM deny the PPP its earned majority? Now if these are not electrifying issues, then what are?

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DID THE PPP/C WIN A MAJORITY AT THE LAST ELECTIONS?

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