I will wait on Court ruling, says GECOM Chair

Mar 09, 2020 News

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… As Chief Justice issues stern warning to Commission

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will wait on the ruling of the Court on whether verification of election results is required by law, before it makes any decision.
This is according to GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, in a letter of response to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Opposition leader had sought to make demands of GECOM, for the verification of the elections results, or for a final recount as was requested by the PPP. Jagdeo also demanded in his letter that Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield refrain from delivering any report to the Commission, and from publicly declaring the results of the election. Jagdeo has stated that he made these requests without attempting to prejudice the ongoing court proceedings.
In response, Singh informed Jagdeo of her decision to wait, as the matter is now sub judice.
Additionally, GECOM sought to make it known that it will not flout the law or act in contempt of the judiciary.
The Election agency had cause to make such a statement after news circulated of Lowenfield notifying the Commission that he was prepared to submit his final report on the 2020 General and Regional Elections, despite the matter of the lack of verification of the Region Four results rearing its head in the ongoing High Court case.
In the High Court yesterday, lawyer for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes raised concerns over alleged attempts by Lowenfield to flout the court orders. The Trinidadian Attorney produced a letter by Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, which suggested that he is prepared to announce the results of the General E,lections even in the face of the ongoing High Court proceedings.
Mendes stated that Lowenfield on his own could be liable for contempt of court. Additionally, the lawyer made a request for the Court to put measures in place to prevent the production of the final report on the election by Lowenfield, before the electoral commission.
“We are asking that the report be revoked and not play any part in the proceedings,” Mendes said.
However, GECOM’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Neil Boston produced the written statement quoted in this article by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, which noted that GECOM intends to abide by the law.
Boston said that the letter sent by Lowenfield to Commission’s Chair Claudette Singh was not meant to be contemptuous of the extant court proceedings.
Following a strict reprimand from the Chief Justice, Boston gave the Court assurance that GECOM would abide by the court’s decisions. “We’ll hold you to that, Mr. Boston,” was the Chief Justice’s response.
In the statement, GECOM said, “The recent action of the Chief Election Officer indicating to the Chairperson and Commissioners that his report in relation to the final declaration was not intended to disregard the Court proceedings, but rather apprising the Chairperson of the completion of the document and that she may convene a meeting at her convenience.”
Of this, the Opposition nominated commissioners had responded that they would not attend such a meeting.
“We consider this invitation to meet as a flagrant attempt to breach the Order of Court and a naked attempt by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to suborn us to breach an Order of Court and exposing us to liability for contempt of court,” the Commissioners said in a statement.
In any case, the presence of those commissioners would not have been entirely necessary, as the three Government nominated Commissioners and the Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, would be a quorum.
Nevertheless, GECOM said that the meeting has not been scheduled.
Though Lowenfield has not made a final declaration or participated in the meeting pursuant to making same, all of the results for the districts that participated in the General and Regional Elections have now been published by GECOM.
In its statement, the body said that it remains resolute in the fulfillment of its constitutional and statutory obligation.
Of its obligation, it noted that it is GECOM’s intention to abide by all legal and procedural requirements to conclude its work, despite it being cognizant of the events that have followed the close of polls of March 2, 2020, and which have resulted from Opposition to the manner in which the results were tabulated and declared.
GECOM said that the mandatory injunction granted against the Commission, which prevents it from making further declarations, “impeded the finalisation of the Commission’s work.”
The injunction is currently the only thing standing in the way of the progression of the Commission toward facilitating the declaration of the final results and the swearing in of a new president.
The meeting of the Commission would facilitate a notice being sent to the Chancellor (ag) of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, to swear in as President, David Granger who is leading the Coalition and which has been given the lead, following the controversial declaration of the Region Four results.

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