May 08, 2020
Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, is questioning whether President David Granger is indeed in command of his camp.
Speaking at a live-streamed press conference yesterday, Jagdeo called out Granger on his lax approach as President.
“Who is really in command, Granger or his cabal?” Jagdeo questioned as he alluded to instances where a faction from the APNU +AFC Coalition seems to be in control.
“We have blatant attempts to rig the elections. I am wondering where is Granger?”
He added, “I know that he still occupies the seat of President but is he in charge of the APNU+AFC or has this rigging cabal taken over because they are doing things either with his blessing or without his blessing. They have now hijacked his Facebook page to carry out their mandate.”
“And this is just a matter of decency. Granger purports to be decent but he has allowed the APNU rigging cabal to take over. But he operates in this concept of plausible deniability and he reads from these prepared statements saying he is willing to accept the results but how can you believe him?”
Further the opposition leader said, “Look at his representatives of the recount, a whole disruptive cabal the likes of Carol Joseph. They are just there to cause confusion. Is he part of this nonsense?”
Jagdeo is of the belief that Granger lives in a cocoon and Harmon reports to him.
He is making decisions on the basis of information Harmon feeds him. He needs to use his authority and hire some independent voice.”
In the same vein, Jagdeo noted that Granger has the authority to change the status of the international election observers. “The same way, he stepped in to allow the CARICOM observers into the country; he can do for the Commonwealth, the Carter Center and other observer missions. They were accredited for the entire elections. The political COVID-19 Task Force is being used to block the entry. There is silence from Granger on this, complete silence but people are watching.”
“Rejecting the international observers will have consequences. If Granger is really interested in credible results, why not allow the international presence to overlook the process? ”
In the meantime, Jagdeo called on staffers of the Guyana Elections Commission to exercise vigilance in the conduct of their duties.
“I am cautioning them not to take any strange instructions from the Keith Lowenfield. They need to be careful because there are elements that are hell bent on seeing this recount sabotaged.”
He noted however that GECOM should have provided clear guidelines on the recount process.
“It will eliminate any attempt to clearly dissuade the process. It’s painstakingly difficult to get the commission to clarify simple issues. So, they could have provided guidelines just to be accurate, what is acceptable or what should not be accepted in a recount process,” Jagdeo stressed.