GEC0M has announced that it intends to wrap up the ongoing recount sometime in mid, June. It is expected that once the recount is completed, the CEO would make a report to the full Commission, which would then make a final declaration. But until that time, GEC0M would have to address its mind to the growing instances of fraud that arc heing uncovered by the APNU+AFC. There dots not appear to lit, any consensus yet among the commissioners on bow to treat with this critical issue-This is, of course, due to the fact that the PPP bas not yet come to grips with what is daily unfolding at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
There can be no doubt that the central issue before GECOM is the credibility of the election. After all the manipulation and abuse that have been uncovered, can the elections be deemed to be free, fair, and credible? Thanks to the recount, the pubic now knows that the manipulation of the system actually began with the bloated voters’ list. We now know why the PPP fought tooth and nail to maintain the list in its current state. Many learned legal scholars and practitioners are now saying that the court may have erred in its ruling that those who have migrated should! not be removed from the list.
The end result is that we went to the election with a list that facilitated massive fraud by the PPP. Thal Party’s explanation that the padded list was legal does not cut it; fraud is fraud, and hiding behind the court’s ruling on the matter is not a plausible excuse. GECOM itself has to bear in mind that it agreed to stop the house- to-house registration under pressure from the PPP. Thal was also an error that may have come back to haunt the process.
The PPP is tying its level. best to bully GECOM into declaring them the winner, based on how they think the recount would end. But, as Commissioner Alexander has said over and over again, the principal purpose of the recount is to ascertain the credibility of the election; not the winner. Once that process is over, GECOM must make a determination, based on all the evidence before it. The quicker the PPP gets that into its head, the better it would be for all involved.
Of course, the question is if the elections were deemed by GECOM to be less than credible, what should be done. This is a complex question, but one that GECOM must be very clear about be-fore the process ends. Does it annul the election? The PPP is arguing that GECOM cannot make that pronouncement; that that is a matter for the court. We reject that reading out-of-hand. GECOM has been deemed by the court to have the power to respond to and correct instances of irregularities. And surely if those irregularities tum out to be the rule rather than the exception, then it follows that OECOM can annul the entire election.
Then there is the case of the declarations that have already been made by the returning officers of the ten regions. Those declarations which were placed in abeyance, pending the recount are not dead. Those who have questioned the legality of the recount have contended that those declarations should be the basis of the official declaration of the winner. No doubt, the PPP would have none of that. So, it is incumbent upon GECOM to decide what to do in that regard.
It is quite obvious then, that GECOM has its work cut out. Under normal circumstances, one would hope that good sense prevails. But that is a scarce commodity for some of the commissioners who place party loyalty over the Constitution and the institution they pledge to serve. The rest of the Commission should not allow themselves to be held hostage by the three party officials from Freedom House. Guyana bas waited almost thru months for the legitimate winner to lit, duly declared, and a president to be sworn in.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_5-31-2020