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Who is the nation to trust?

Aug 01, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

David Granger, caught by surprise, unable to escape facing the media when he commissioned the Infections Diseases Hospital, when pressed for an answer said: “with respect, my statement on compliance with the declaration wasn’t conditioned. I didn’t say if the rain is falling or the sun is shining. You know, if it comes by day or by night, I am obliged to observe the declaration of the Chairman of the Elections Commission.”
This statement from Granger is, we know not the first time he has pledged his word speaking as President and Leader of the governing APNU+AFC, that he will honour the decision of the Chairman of GECOM. His exact words before were: “as President of Guyana and Leader of the Government, it is my policy that any declaration comes from the Chairman of GECOM would be recognized by the Coalition Government”.
We know, however, that since Granger made that pledge, his Coalition Party agents, his Coalition Party lawyers and his Attorney General, have gone to every court – the High Court, the Appeal Court, the Caribbean Court of Justice – to argue that the Recount Order (60) is illegal to prevent GECOM from using the Statements of Recount to declare the results of 2nd March Elections.
Granger’s lawyers in contradiction with Granger’s pledge, have even argued that the Chairman of GECOM is obligated to accept the fraudulent Lowenfield/Mingo report to declare Granger as President.
Granger was not to be trusted then, and is he to be trusted now?
The Courts have, once again, thrown out these arguments. The Courts, once again, have directed that only the Recount data must be used by GECOM to determine the declaration of the elections.
I ask the question again, in all sincerity, can anyone, at anytime, anywhere, believe anything which Granger says or to which he pledges his word?
On Thursday last, Granger, when further pressed by the media, said “I have been saying over and over again that I will abide by the declaration by the Election Commission. I will abide by the rulings of the court…. Once the court has finally ruled we would obey the ruling of the court”.
If Granger, who is still serving as President and the Leader of the Coalition government and of the APNU+AFC is, at all, to be believed and his word to be trusted, nothing further should be done or said by anyone under his authority to prevent Chairman Claudette Singh from immediately convening a meeting of GECOM, immediately replacing Lowenfield if he continues to refuse to comply with the directions of the Courts to declare the winner of the elections in accordance with the Recount and directing Chancellor Cummings to swear in Dr. Irfaan Ali as the President.
But already Granger’s lawyers are indicating an interest in a further appeal, unwilling to abide by the courts ruling in direct conflict with Granger’s own words.
Already too, Granger’s party manager, Joseph Harmon, has refused to accept the ruling of the court and repeats the APNU+AFC refrain that “fraudulent votes cannot be the basis for a final declaration to be made. This is our firm position”. Worse, Harmon presumes to direct that “we can still get out of the Chairman of the Elections Commission, a declaration that is based on valid votes and no fraudulent vote. We remain very confident about that”.
So, who is the nation to trust? Is Granger lying again? It is either that Granger deliver on his word, shut his lawyers down, shut up his party acolytes, tell Harmon to shut up, or shut up himself.

Yours sincerely,
Kit Nascimento

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