The A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU) has flayed Chairman of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Timothy Jonas for implying that he knew for which party representatives of the elections commission have voted, presumably because of their race.
In a letter to the media, the party spotlighted the remarks of Jonas on May 30, 2020 during a briefing to the press outside the Arthur Chung Conference e (ACCC). There, Jonas stated: “Now I have no confidence in the secretariat. We know who their members are. CEO is Lowenfield, next one down is Roxanne Myers, the next one down is Hetsberger. I don’t know these people personally, I have seen their actions, I have seen their conduct. I think we can all agree that none of them voted PPP.”
The APNU+AFC outlined that the “aspirant” leader made the pronouncements even though he admitted that he has no personal knowledge or relation to the individuals. The party said that although he accused them of “actions,” he failed to pinpoint what these actions were.
As such, it concluded: “The only common factor between Lowenfield, Myers and Hetsberger is race, pure and simple. This is not the first time that Jonas has referred to the African Guyanese as capable of voting only in a particular manner.”
Furthermore, the APNU+AFC said that it is disturbing that Jonas has stated that he has lost confidence in GECOM as his position seems to hinge only on the basis of the race of the members of the secretariat. The party then listed several points which it said have been revealed through Jonas’ statements as: “1) Race is the basis upon which he determines whether he has confidence in an institution. 2) that despite how a person may be perceived to vote they are unable to discharge their professional duties as a member of the GECOM secretariat. 3) if he has lost confidence in the GECOM secretariat, why bother to wait for the results of the recount as you have already determined that it is incapable of producing credible results. 4) the fact that they did not vote PPP is a matter which is ‘worrying’ to him and presumably ANUG and 5) that not voting for the PPP as a member of the secretariat is a matter of national concern.”
In frank terms, the APNU+AFC has stated that it is unsure of what constituency Jonas hopes to speak for, but “it is clear that he has a major problem with the African Guyanese citizenry.”
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_01_2020