…urge swift swearing-in of President Granger
The Mayors of Mahdia, New Amsterdam, Bartica and Linden, have jointly stated that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is in its right to declare President David Granger as President of Guyana based on the report of the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), following the guidance of the Court of Appeal which is final.
This was their message in letter released on Tuesday and signed by Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall; Mayor of Linden, Weneka Arrindell; Mayor of Mahdia, David Adams and Mayor of New Amsterdam, Winifred Heywood. Though the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) case challenging the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to rule that the election of a President must be made on valid votes cast comes up for arguments today, the Mayors pointed to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution as proof that the Appellate Court’s ruling is final.
In deciding that it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Eslyn David on June 18, 2020, the Court of Appeal had ordered that the words “more votes are cast” in Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution be interpreted to mean “more valid votes are cast”. Article 177 (4) of the Constitution makes the court ruling final, though the opposition wants the Appellate Court’s decision to be set aside by the CCJ.
However, the Mayors put forward that it is based on the ruling of the court, which is final, that the CEO prepared and submitted his report of only valid votes cast, which should stand as the guidance from which a declaration is made.
“After the completion of this verification, the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, guided by Section 96 of the People’s Representation Act, Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the Court of Appeal in Eslyn David v Chief Elections Officer et al, submitted his repot on June 16, 2020. This report, which is solidly undergirded by the law, clearly shows that the APNU+AFC Coalition won the March 2, 2020 elections,” their statement indicated, adding: “Having regard to the aforementioned, we call on GECOM to complete this election process by making a declaration based on the Chief Elections Officer’s report.”
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_e-paper_7-1-2020