-President Granger urges supporters to be patient as they await official declaration of results
-hopes for some form of declaration today
As anxiety continues to grow over the impending announcement of results for the 2020 General and Regional Elections, incumbent President David Granger, who is at the helm of the in A Partnership for National Unity+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, has urged the party’s supporters to remain calm as they await those results.
Over 600,000 Guyanese were eligible to vote in the 2020 General and Regional Elections on Monday and there were some 2,339 polling stations across the 10 administrative regions. Nine political parties contested the general elections and 11 in the regional elections.
It has been over 48 hours since the close of polls at 18:00hrs on Monday, and although results continue to “trickle in,” there has been increased anxiety because of the pace at which results are being declared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
President Granger, who had hoped that the results would have already been declared, said the coalition is hoping for an official declaration of those results today by the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (ret’d), Claudette Singh.
“I cannot make a declaration tonight (Wednesday) because the elections commission itself has not received all of the declarations from returning officers,” said President Granger during an address to coalition supporters, who converged at the APNU+AFC’s headquarters at Lamaha Street on Wednesday evening.
In urging supporters of the coalition to remain patient and calm as they await the results, the President said: “Remain calm, we are awaiting a declaration by the elections commission and as soon as we get word, we will make a public announcement. It is not possible right now.
“So I crave your indulgence…patiently wait until the results come from the commission and as soon as that comes we will be in touch with you…I cannot give you an announcement, we are all watching and waiting.”
It is believed that results would have been declared sooner, but both the APNU+AFC coalition and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) – the main contenders in the elections– raised concerns about some challenges in various administrative regions. These challenges were noted by the elections body and verification of ballots was taking place up to press time on Tuesday.
“Right now, as I speak, verification is still taking place, so the numbers have not been verified and we cannot make an announcement until the elections commission makes a declaration.
“All of us had hoped that by now the declaration would be made, but it will not be made tonight (Wednesday)…verification is going on throughout the night, so I ask you to be patient and we hope that tomorrow the chairman of the commission will make some form of declaration,” said President Granger.
In this regard, the President said it is “quite impossible” to make any announcement of results because “nobody” knows the final score.
The PPP/C had said: “The party also believes that Guyanese must remain calm and go about their business in a peaceful manner, as GECOM finalises the official results via its verification process.”
President Granger, weighing in on the electoral process on Monday, said he was satisfied with the electoral process, despite a few anomalies and abuses which the coalition had observed.
Meanwhile, Justice (ret’d) Singh has said that Guyana’s General and Regional Elections were free, fair and a major success, even as she called on Guyanese to demonstrate patience as the Elections Secretariat tabulates the votes for a preliminary or final declaration of the results.
She said that GECOM, despite facing a plethora of challenges in the
lead up to Monday, March 2, smoothly executed the General and Regional Elections across the country’s 10 administrative regions. According to her, the elections were well run.
“We had a very well-run election, despite all of the naysayers,” the GECOM chair said. The Elections Commission, she said, is appreciative of the extensive work done by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield and his team at the GECOM Secretariat.
“On behalf of the Commission, I have to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to our CEO and his hardworking secretariat. They did a fantastic job,” the GECOM Chair said.
But while the elections were executed with minor hitches, GECOM has been extremely slow in delivering the results, much to the dissatisfaction of the masses. Cognisant of this fact, Justice Singh has called on the nation to have patience.
“I will ask you to be very patient; the results are trickling in, and the process of verification is being conducted,” she said.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_03_05_2020