On this day, in 2020, Keith Rowley got angry

Apr 06, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – On this day in 2020, Trinidad’s Prime Minister displayed irritation at the ruling of the Court of Appeal (CoA) in relation to the CARICOM supervised recount. It is a long story and we will have to offer the antecedents in order to understand the anger behind PM Rowley’s words.
The legal battle over the recount constitutes one of the darkest moments in Guyana’s turbulent battles to have free and fair elections. With our young population, these moments must be highlighted as much as possible so the past with its devouring tentacles could never be repeated.
When you look at the recount saga, your anger takes up permanent residency in your mind not only about the riggers but those who remained silent yet profess to struggle for civil liberties, justice, human rights, responsible governance and equality.
Contact was made with me last week by one of Guyana’s most successful diaspora members over the past four decades in international society. I declined a dialogue on the basis that his voice was silent over five months at the attempt to rig the election. I indicated that I don’t want to have communications with him. Once we remind this young nation of those scary hours to defeat election rigging, we must recall the admirable names of Dominic Gaskin and Ian McDonald. When Guyana needed their voices, they used it in support of their country.
As for the usual suspects (TUS), I would urge Guyanese not to read their letters in the press with its 20 signatures roaming all over the place highlighting everything under the sun except election rigging and violent post-election mayhem in Region Five where a 16-year-old girl and her grandmother were mauled. Maybe TUS had racial reasons for not writing a letter with 25 signatures. Anyway back to PM, Keith Rowley.
One of the gaping roles in the legal jurisdiction of this country that remains to be plugged is that decision from the CoA. We will return to why that curious aperture still exists. After President David Granger and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo conceded to a CARICOM request for a recount of the votes under the watchdog role of CARICOM, something surreal happened.
A PNC East Coast Regional Candidate for APNU, Ulita Grace Moore (UGM), filed an injunction to block the recount. President Granger reacted to queries of UGM’s intervention by saying his party cannot stop a citizen from taking private action.
He was right but two questions still remain unanswered. UGM was an APNU election candidate subject to the decisions of her party. Secondly, if it was a private initiative, why did the lead lawyer of the government and the PNC and an election candidate himself take the case?
Justice Franklyn Holder granted the injunction stopping the recount. The Full Court comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Nareshwar Harnanan reversed Justice Holder’s edict. The Full Court in pellucid language asserted GECOM’s right to conduct the administration of elections as a constitutional body as stipulated in Article 162 of the constitution.
The CoA comprising Justices Dawn Gregory-Barnes, Brassington Reynolds and Rishi Persaud reversed the Full Court’s ruling stipulating that GECOM does not have the right to invite CARICOM to supervise the recount. Persaud gave a dissenting opinion echoing the Full Court’s ruling that GECOM’s role cannot be interfered with. He said that GECOM was empowered to solely deal with resolutions of election issues.
It was that decision that got PM Rowley angry. At a press conference, he contended that the process of the recount was not for CARICOM to replace GECOM’s administrative role but to merely oversee the process. He used the word, “disturbing” to describe the ruling of the CoA.
I stated above the CoA’s decision has created a lacuna in Guyana’s legal jurisdiction that needs to be filled. First, Rowley was irritated because he felt the CoA ruled on wrong information – CARICOM would supplant GECOM in the administration of the recount. Secondly, even if CARICOM would have taken over the supervision of the recount, did it have the constitutional authority to do so?
The combined opposition did not challenge the decision of the CoA in the Caribbean Court of Justice and as we know, the recount took place with a formal watchdog presence of CARICOM representatives. The question remains – can GECOM invite the UN or the OAS to administer a recount in a national election in Guyana.
In conclusion, Rowley’s disappointment was justified because there was never a mandatory supervisory hand for CARICOM in the election recount. The effort to stop the recount was another depraved detour of the five month old bandwagon to deny Guyanese their right to vote. Only an ugly mind could have remained silent from March to July in 2020.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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