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Six political parties in joint call for full recount
A CARICOM-supervised recount of all votes may have been obstructed, but six political parties are resolute that it must be facilitated in order to have a credible and internationally respected election result.
PPP/C presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali
The parties are Change Guyana (CG), People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), United Republican Party (URP), A New and United Guyana (ANUG), The New Movement (TNM), and The Citizenship Initiative (TCI).
The parties hold that the need for a recount is premised on grounds that there have been unlawful and/or illegal actions highlighted by the actions of district four returning officer, Clairmont Mingo.
Mingo had made two declarations of the region four general and regional election results.
The first, which was marred by a lack of transparency and irregularities, was vitiated by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire in a ruling. Her ruling had categorically asserted that Mingo did not comply with the legal tabulation process as stated in the Representation of the People Act.
The second declaration, made last Friday, was similarly marred with issues of irregularities and a lack of transparency. Several parties now hold that, like the first declaration, the second was not made in compliance with the Act. Hence, they hold that Mingo is in breach of the Orders of the Chief Justice, which followed her ruling.
It is for these reasons that GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh agreed to facilitate a CARICOM-supervised recount, as called for by the leaders of the two major parties, David Granger and Bharrat Jagdeo.
Change Guyana presidential candidate, Robert Badal
The global community, including CARICOM; Organization of American States; European Union; Commonwealth Secretariat; Carter Center, and their representatives: such as Caricom Chairperson and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and other Caribbean Prime Ministers; US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch; EU Ambassador Fernando Ponz Cantó; UK High Commissioner Greg Quinn, and Canadian High Commissioner Lillian Chatterjee and several reputable Guyanese, have spoken out in favour of a recount and/or the need for a democratic transition.
Pursuant to that recount, the six parties have also called for the security of all ballot boxes to be maintained, as is being done for the boxes held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
“In view of the foregoing, it is of paramount importance that the security of the containers containing the voting ballots be preserved. This is best achieved by all containers being stored at a central location and to permit party scrutineers to be on site and guard against any tampering with the ballot boxes.”
The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) presidential candidate, Rhonda-Ann Lam
“At the time of writing of this press release, the Container with Region 6 Ballots and the Container with the Region 4 East Coast Ballots are not stored at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in Liliendaal, where all the other containers for the other regions and sub-regions are stored. We urgently request that this irregularity be corrected immediately.”
A recount cannot happen at this time, while an interim injunction is in place. That matter comes up this morning in the High Court. The political parties indicated that they have signed jointly or individually as respondents to the interim ex parte application granted by Justice Franklin Holder.
They are unanimous in the view that the injunction is without merit.
Also noted are the “important” threats of sanctions from the international community, especially from the ABCE countries. They hold that this underscores the need to ensure democratic norms prevail.
Additionally, the parties called for the Guyana Police Force to act professionally to de-escalate tensions that are continuing to rise.
“The parties call on all citizens of Guyana to remain calm and peaceful as these matters continue to engage the attention of the Courts, and as we continue to work with the local and international community to ensure the recounting of the votes cast at Guyana’s General and Regional Elections held on March 2, 2020.”
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