…urges PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali
Presidential Candidate of the PPP/C Dr Irfaan Ali has said that the results of the recount confirmed what his party has been saying that the won the elections.
Following the completion of the last ballot box on Sunday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), supporters of the party began declaring victory. The Guyana Elections Commission has warned against such action.
Ali, told the media that the recount is showing exactly what his party would have said with their Statements Of Polls, that PPP/C won these elections by well over 15,000 votes.
He went on to say that “this is a moment for us to come together as a country, come together as a people and embrace the future, learn from the challenges in building a more stronger and prosperous Guyana in which all of us can live and fulfill our dreams and aspirations.”
Ali said that the country has been in a challenging state since December 2018 when the no-confidence motion was passed in parliament. “We have been in a difficult position in this country since the no-confidence motion. Life was never the same, business was never the same. It is time Guyana gets that space to bloom and to move forward. Our country deserves this and the citizens of our country deserves this,” he said.
According to him, his party is prepared to deal with any eventualities.
General Secretary of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo, also addressed the public through the media, pointing out that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has shifted its position in declaring win from the elections results, to a position of discrediting the results of the recount. He said that the recount numbers show that Clairmont Mingo’s results were inflated for the APNU+AFC and deflated for the PPP/C in many areas. And it is on these grounds the party has claimed victory ahead of GECOM’s declaration.
Glaring evidence
But while the PPP/C has downplayed the irregularities as mere claims, Commissioner Vincent Alexander has said that there is glaring evidence that the electoral process was manipulated – a position also held by President David Granger. There are over 6,000 irregularities, which have resulted in more than 90,000 votes being affected, he said.
While the PPP/C has declared itself the winner, the declaration of the results is not automatic as suggested by the opposition.
Now that the count is completed, the next phase will be initiated, which entails the preparation of a report on the process by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, which will later be reviewed by the commission. The Elections Commission will then decide whether or not the data from the recount should be used for the declaration of the results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Commissioner Alexander had said that even though the alleged fraudulent ballots were counted in the recount, the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh had noted that the investigations will still continue to ascertain what decision to take at the end of the entire process. At present, there is no certainty of what the end decision will be, and the public is advised to await the declaration of GECOM.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_08_2020