Protest alleges meddling by CARICOM diplomatic community in elections
By Naomi Marshall
LINDEN supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change’ (APNU+AFC) coalition joined the series of countrywide protests that occurred simultaneously on Monday to make clear their position that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has no jurisdiction over the Guyana elections case.
Linden’s peaceful picketing was led by former Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira and saw supporters holding placards that read: “CCJ MU ST RESPECT GUYANA’S CON STITUTION”; “NO FOREIGH N INTER FERENCE,’. and “CEO FOLLOWED GUYANA’S LAW.
In an invited comment, Figueira stated that the supporters believe that several CARICOM leaders have made statements that are believed to be “premature, uncalled for and has interference [sic) in Guyana’s electoral process.”
However, he noted that on July 6, CARICOM Day, APNU+AFC supporters want the CARJCOM community to know explicitly that Guyana is a sovereign state and not a colony of CARJCOM; as such, foreign interference in Guyana’s electoral process will not be tolerated. Figueira highlighted CARJCOM Chairman Ralph Gonsalves’ statement,”no one would be allowed to steal the elections,” and added that Guyana is in agreement with his statement.
The former Member of Parliament added, “We as Guyanese would never allow anyone to steal our elections, knowing that we would have discovered a lot of irregularities tantamount to electoral fraud and we are of the view that an election should be one in which only valid votes are tabulated. and in that respect we agree with Mr. Gonsalves that the elections cannot be stolen, by the tabulation of invalid votes. It must be preserved by the tabulation of only valid votes.”
lie went on to say, “that is why we went to our apex. court, our indigenous court, our highest court which the constitution of Guyana provides for, which was for an interpretation of what ‘val id votes’ meant. The majority of the judges on, the appeal court said that ‘more votes’ meant ‘more valid votes’ and that is the position we stand by and that is the position that we want CARICOM to understand that we stand by and we believe that the true will of the Guyanese people will be demonstrated by the tabulation of only valid. votes.·,
Me an while, young supporter of the APNU+AFC coalition, Devin Sears, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle highlighted Article 177 (4) of the Constitution which states: ‘The Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a President in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution; and any decision of that court under this paragraph shall be final.”
Sears noted that when Guyana signed on to the CCJ in 2001, any of the laws Guyana would had had prior to the signing should remain intact. He stated that the other CARICOM countries that have not yet signed on to the CCJ are watching and it is important for the CCJ to maintain its good reputation which will contribute to those countries’ decisions to either sign on to the CCJ or not.
Mark Goring, APNU+AFC Candidate for Region I 0, noted that he wants the CCJ to respect Guyana’s constitution by doing the right thing, which is to state that it has no jurisdiction over the Guyana elections case.
Gori ng ma de hi s expectations clear, noting, “We expect our President to be sworn in by the end of the week and we expect all Guyanese to be calm. There will be a winner, there will be a loser and in this case APNU+AFC is the winner and we ask that the supporters of the opposition recognise that their leaders have tried to steal an election and we hope they understand that stealing is not pem1itted in Guyana and we want peace in our country, we want peace to reign.”
On Wednesday July 8, 2020, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will hand down its decision on whether it can assume jurisdiction in a challenge seeking to set aside the ruling of the Court of Appeal that the election of the President must be on the basis of valid votes.”
President of the CCJ, Justice Adrian Saunders, who ltd a panel of five judges made the announcement on Wednesday (July I) after bearing more than five hours of legal arguments virtually on whether the CC.I has jurisdiction to bear the case filed by People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C’s) General Secretary Bharrat .Jagdeo and presidential candidate Irfaao Ali; and if it bas jurisdiction, whether the Court of Appeal’s decision that the Words “more voters are cast” in Article 177 (2) (h) of the Constitution arc interpreted to mean “more valid votes .art cast,” should be upheld or set aside. The ruling will he delivered at 15:00hrs on Wednesday.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_07_07_2020