IN Sunday’s edition of this publication, we reported the APNU+AFC coalition as claiming that 86, 367 votes have been compromised thus far in the ongoing recount.
The Coalition plans to present this data to GECOM, in keeping with a request made by the Commission’s Chair, Justice Claudette Singh. Justice Singh was at the time responding to the many objections made by the Coalition. She was reported as saying, “The submission of evidence would inform the deliberations at the level of the Commission.” She went on to make the oft-quoted declaration: “While I continue to monitor the trends, based on the allegations in the observation reports, I am of the view that he who asserts must prove.
In this regard, when there are considerable deliberations and decisions at the Commission in relation to claims of anomalies, the outcome would be officially communicated to the political parties and other stakeholders, particularly the media.”
So, the Coalition has moved to comply with the Chairwoman’s reasonable and commonsense request. It appears to have gathered a great deal of information, and has done the requisite analysis to put that information in context. As we reported in our Sunday edition: “On Saturday, the ruling APNU+AFC contended that of the votes recounted to date, 86,367 lack credibility,” as it pointed to cases in which Poll Books and the Official List of Electors (OLEs) were missing when the ballot boxes were opened. Of the 86,367 votes, the Coalition is contending that 31,958 of them are affected by the variance on the OLEs.
From all indications, these revelations have caught the Opposition and its cohorts napping. Since they have long wrapped themselves in the narrative of rigging in Region 4, they seem to have forgotten what transpired in the rest of the election process. Or so sure are they that the foreign forces they appear to have duped would deliver the election to them, they have been blinded by the ensuing triumphalism.
Be that as it may, the APNU+AFC’s revelations are discrediting the seemingly entrenched PPP narrative. But more than that, it has so unnerved the PPP, they are now lashing out in ways that expose their guilt. The PPP has gone rogue. Anil Nandlall has threatened that should GECOM consider the mountain of evidence, it would constitute a constitutional violation. He parrots the PPP’s new line that GECOM is not a court; that the examination of fraud is the job of the courts, via an election petition. And Bharrat Jagdeo, in his customary bullish manner, has threatened criminal charges against the Coalition’s operatives for exposing death certificates in their quest to prove that dead persons voted for the PPP.
It is downright hypocritical for the PPP to now discover that an elections petition is the preferred way to settle elections disputes. It is worth recalling that it was the very PPP which ignored that advice when it first raised the spurious charges against the tabulation of the Region 4 votes. It moved to the courts, which ruled that GECOM has the power to correct charges of fraud. The PPP welcomed that ruling, which guided GECOM to embrace the current recount. So why change the tune now? Obviously, the fact that the PPP’s massive rigging scheme is being exposed, it wants no change of rules.
The PPP must not be allowed to bully its way out of jail, as it has repeatedly done in the recent past. Let the process go forward. This publication has said over and over again that fairness demands that those who seek the highest office of this land must do so on an even playfield. The PPP has employed tactics that invited external intervention in our elections. The tide seems to be turning, and Freedom House and their agents are looking for new ways to continue their crusade to steal the government.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_27_05_2020