Controversial GPSU results are out!...Elections petition likely as Yarde re-elected president

Controversial GPSU results are out!…Elections petition likely as Yarde re-elected president

May 03, 2017 News

After several hiccups and finger-pointing episodes, the results of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU)’s elections, have finally been released. But, the drama is far from being over.

Patrick Yarde

Last evening, the body, via email, sent out a list of persons, accompanied by the number of votes the individuals garnered. The document did not specify who won the presidency or to what positions the others were elected.
Kaieteur News then made contact with the GPSU, and was told that the incumbent, Patrick Yarde, who has been accused of stalling the much delayed results, had been re-elected as President.
Presidential candidate, Gregory Gaspar, who has been raising repeated concerns about the integrity of the process, did not even secure any of the executive positions.
Shortly after the results were released to the media, Gaspar, via his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, called an ‘emergency’ press conference.
As it turned out, the Presidential Candidate, prior to online media reports, was not even aware that he had lost the elections.
“Nothing… not a thing was communicated to me and my team. We are confused. We don’t have a clue as to what is happening here,” Gaspar told Kaieteur News following a press conference last evening.
He began questioning reporters about the contents of the results, as opposed to the other way around.
Since Gaspar and his team were expecting the results to be officially announced today, they are refusing to accept those that were released last night.
“We haven’t seen anything official as yet, so we asking Public Servants to stay calm, because as far as we are concerned, these results were just manufactured by Mr. Yarde,” one of Gaspar’s teammates said.
If the results provided to the media last evening are the very ones that are delivered to Gaspar today, there is likely to be some amount of commotion.
Gaspar, for his part, is looking to file an elections petition. In the meantime, the likelihood of street protests is being looked at by the rest of his team.
“If people want to come out to voice their concerns, we are definitely not going to stop them,” Gaspar told this newspaper.
The Opposition team said that ever since the media released the results, GPSU Members have been threatening to leave the union.
“We are pleading with them not to take such a drastic step. Even if they want to move to withhold their dues, then that is their right, but we are not advising them to just leave the union altogether,” Gaspar told Kaieteur News after the press conference.
Today is likely to be the day that GPSU’s Opposition is likely to make its official decision on the way forward.
Nonetheless, according to last night’s results, GPSU’s second in command is now Dawn Gardener, the First Vice President. The Second Vice President is Trevor Daly, followed by Third Vice President, Samantha Fedee.
Kempton Alexander is now Deputy General Secretary, followed by Jennifer Melville, Principal Assistant Secretary and Janice Bowen, Assistant Secretary.
The new Organizing Secretary is Mortimer Livan, and his deputy, Assistant Organizing Secretary, is Carmelita Laulys.
The General Members of the GPSU’s Executive are Ram Mangru, Monica Walters, Marcelle Percival, Constantine Perry, Andrea Giles, Abbygale Hope and Duwane Boston.