THE People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has warned that the Guyana Elections Commission should not return to the previous declarations of the March 2, 2020 polls saying any such move would render the recount exercise futile.
The party still claims that it has won the elections by some 15,000 votes contrary to the two separate declarations of Mingo which put the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) in the lead. They also make the claim even as over 2,000 ballot boxes are yet to be tabulated in the recount process.
PPP/C Executive, Anil Nandlall coming out of the recount process on Sunday, stated: “Today alone, several boxes that were counted vividly illustrated and demonstrated the fraud that Mingo perpetrated in those declarations.” Earlier, when questioned by the press, GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Ward said she was unaware that any formal complaint had been made to the Commission regarding an objection to Mingo’s declaration.
However, Nandlall later told the media that on March 13, 2020, he wrote to the Chair of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, on behalf of his party, objecting to the second tabulation exercise resumed by Mingo and requesting that he be prevented from making any declaration based upon a “flawed tabulation methodology which he employed”.
Later Ward, after being able to check the Commission’s records, corrected her previous statements confirming that the PPP/C did send a letter to the Chair. However, Ward could not confirm, at the time, whether the Chair had formally responded to the letter.
Nonetheless, both PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali and Nandlall called on GECOM to release a comparison of the election SOPs, Mingo’s declaration and the SORs for public confirmation on what may have transpired. “In the interest of transparency, we would love for GECOM to publish these three so that the public can have it,” Ali said. They also objected to the possible use of the Mingo’s second declaration stating that the mere fact that a recount is being conducted means that the RO’s declaration would not have been seen as valid.
The position somewhat clashes with the remarks of Justice Singh back in April 2020 that the declaration of the results for District Four or any other district cannot be nullified at this stage of the electoral process. “The declarations are in abeyance, we put them in abeyance because I cannot replace them until after the recount. They only can be replaced by a new declaration from the recount,” the GECOM chair explained. However, Nandlall said on Sunday: “For all intent and purposes, those declarations cannot be acted upon because they have been overtaken by the recount itself being undertaken by GECOM. So, holding it in abeyance for me is a very sterile, ceremonial act.”
He said that he cannot imagine that GECOM would have reason to fall back on the previous declaration of Mingo and, if so, the entire recount would be rendered futile. The need for the national recount dates back to repeated disruptions during the tabulation of the Region Four SOPs by Mingo. In court documents filed in the High Court, Mingo noted that his attempt to execute his mandate was met with repeated objections and disruptions by the Opposition.
Notwithstanding loud screams of “no” in the Command Centre at High and Hadfield Streets, Mingo declared the results for the Region on Thursday, March 5, 2020 placing the APNU/AFC in the lead. The centre immediately descended into chaos with representatives from the PPP/C and a number of small political parties clashing with the police in their attempt to break open the door of an office, the GECOM Chair was operating in. By the end of that day, international observers flagged the electoral process as lacking transparency.
That same day, the PPP/C secured an injunction from the High Court blocking the declaration of the results of the elections on the grounds that Mingo did not comply with the Electoral Laws during the tabulation process.
On March 11, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled that the declaration of the results for District Four was in breach of Section 84:1 of the Representation of the Peoples Act highlighting that a large percentage of the SOPs were tabulated in the absence of those entitled to be there.
But by March 13, the PPP/C moved to the High Court again, this time filing contempt proceedings against Mingo, the GECOM Chair and the Elections Commission.
In hearing the contempt case, Chief Justice (ag) said the Returning Officer must produce the SOPs during the tabulation of votes for his electoral district. Mingo, according to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), for a second time, tabulated the Region Four SOPs in accordance with the Laws and Ruling of the Court on March 13, and declared the results. However, the results were not accepted by the PPP/C.
On March 14, the contempt proceedings came up in the Court but was shelved after the Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, announced that President Granger and the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, had agreed to a National Recount under the supervision of a CARICOM high-level team.
An Aid Memoire was subsequently signed by the two leaders, and GECOM had agreed to a recount and an Order drafted. However, by March 17, a challenge was made to the legality of the recount which saw the High Court granting four injunctions, bringing the electoral process to a halt once again.
On March 31, the Full Court ruled that the Court had no jurisdiction to hear the case on the grounds that the issues raised could only be dealt with by way of an Elections Petition. This was appealed and, though the Appellate Court did not grant all the orders sought, it ruled, on April 5, that agreement that usurps the powers of GECOM to supervise elections in Guyana would be unconstitutional.
On April 3, two days before the ruling of the Appellate Court, the Elections Commission took a decision to proceed with the National Recount but under the supervision of GECOM, with the integral involvement of CARICOM.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_05_11_2020