A SMALL group of APNU+AFC supporters on Thursday came up against resistance from the police as they staged a protest outside of State House opposing a statement put out by CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley, and a move by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to stay elections results pending an appeal on the interpretation of Article 177 (2) (b) of Guyana’s Constitution.
The protesters held placards bearing statements saying, among other things, “CCJ has no business in our affairs”; “Foreigners stay out of Guyana’s affairs”; and “CEO guided by our final court”.
While some of the male protesters were placed in a police bus and taken away from the scene of the protest, most of the protesters were allowed to stay as a small group of police maintained a presence a short distance away.
“We held our placards, and we were standing, adhering to COVID-9 restrictions by distancing ourselves. Then the policemen came and said, ‘You must disperse.’ Eventually, we started to disperse, but the police came trotting behind us, meet up individuals, and hold the men them by their trousers and their back, and told them that they have to go in the bus; they even dragged a young man on the ground,” noted one protester.
Police on the ground said that they were not at liberty to speak with the media, and directed all questions to Regional Commander, Superintendent Phillip Azore. Calls made to Azore however proved futile. The protesters stayed until approximately 13:00hrs before dispersing. “I am not doing this for me, because I done big; I am doing this for my children and my grandchildren and many others,” shared one impassioned protester. “If the PPP is claiming they win, why are they running to the CCJ? We want our righted vote,” she added.
Among the protesters was APNU+AFC member and City Councillor, Gregory Fraser, who said that they were out to let it be known that they do not agree with foreign involvement in Guyana’s elections. “We are maintaining that CARICOM, CCJ has no business in these affairs; our Appeal Court is final,” Fraser said.
CCJ INTERVENES
On Tuesday, the CCJ ordered the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to halt the electoral process following an appeal submitted by the People’s Progressive Party (PPPC) to challenge a ruling by the local Court of Appeal, which affects the outcome of Guyana’s March 2, 2020 elections. On Monday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the words “more votes” in the Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana be interpreted to mean “more valid votes” in determining the election of a President.
Taking the ruling into consideration, Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, on Tuesday submitted his Elections Report, where only 344,508 of the votes cast at the March 2 elections were deemed valid. Based on the Statements of Recount (SORs), the PPP/C secured 233,336 votes, while APNU+AFC raked in 217,920 votes. The CEO, in his final report, however said that thousands of votes were compromised as a result of widespread irregularities, and alleged cases of electoral fraud.
Mottley described the Elections Report as contrary to directions given by the Commission, saying that it does not reflect the results of the recount process.
“We believe the CARICOM Chairman was very disrespectful to our sovereign nation, Guyana, in the words she spoke, requesting us to go back to count and count all the spoil votes that would give the particular political party that she supports an advantage,” Fraser said, adding: “In her statement, she tries to intimidate or dictate to the CEO of GECOM to change the report that he has handed in to the Chairman, which shows that the Coalition has won the government.”
Aside from Mottley’s statement, Fraser also pointed to a joint statement issued by the US Ambassador, British High Commissioner, Canadian High Commissioner and Ambassador of the European Union. “We are convinced that these countries and their leaders are interfering in our business, when we can deal with our business right here. They came out with one statement Wednesday as though it was coordinated and rehearsed,” Fraser said. “This country is Guyana; it is not Barbados, not St Vincent, the US, UK or Canada,” he added.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_26_2020