…chairman forced to leave through back door, police called in
By Svetlana Marshall
PANDEMONIUM broke out at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Command Centre at Hadfield and High Streets when agents attached to the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) clashed with the police as they tried to invade an office, in which the Chairman of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, was operating in.
It was alleged that the GECOM Chair was “dead,” “sick,” and even held “hostage” but these allegations were proven to be untrue, as she was alive and well. According to reports, moments after the Region Four (Demerara- Mahaica) Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, declared, amid loud heckling and chants of ‘NO,’ the results for the general and regional elections for his district, the chairman proceeded to her office.
It was not long after that PPP/C Executive Member and Attorney-at-Law, Anil Nandlall, appeared at the Command Centre with a Court Martial to serve Justice Singh with a High Court order, however, calls to the GECOM Chair went unanswered. She remained locked in the room for an extensive period stretching several hours.
An ambulance with Emergency Medical Responders would later arrive at the Elections Commission Command Centre with an oxygen bottle and other apparatus but they were not allowed to enter the office of the chair, located on the second floor of the building. It was unclear who called in the Emergency Medical Responders but the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that it was not Justice Singh. Though a number of local journalists were barred from entering the Command Centre, a live Facebook feed from inside the building showed the Leader of Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, telling International Observers that Justice (Ret’d) Singh was being held against her will and the police is complicit. “Let’s see the chair! Let’s see the chair! Let’s see the chair,” a number of persons were heard chanting amid heavy police presence within the facility. The chants later turned into a physical confrontation with ranks of the Guyana Police Force as the agents associated with the PPP/C and a number of other smaller political parties attempted to bulldoze their way into the room in which the GECOM Chair was located. “All we want to know that she is okay,” Jagdeo was heard telling the police as they guarded Justice (Ret’d) Singh’s office door in full view of members of international Electoral Observation Missions. It is believed that the opposition leader and his supporters were attempting to have access to Justice (Ret’d) Singh so as to have her served with the Court Order, intended to block the elections commission from proceeding with the declaration of the results for the general and regional elections. But even as senior ranks of the police force were asking persons to clear that section, another group of people pushed opened the door of another office located right next to the one the GECOM chair was in. It was the scene of physical confrontation.
HELD HOSTAGE
On the outskirts of the command centre, Jagdeo told reporters that the GECOM Chair was being held “hostage,” and that the police had barred access to her office but even as he levied those allegations, supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) said that the “Chairman was under siege by the PPP/C” and that her life was at risk due to the attempts to bulldoze her office. But when the door to Justice Singh’s office was opened, the scene contradicted the reports by the opposition leader. Justice (Ret’d) Singh was “alive and well” and in perfect order.
With ranks in riot gear lining the perimeter of the building, Justice Singh exited the building through the back and was escorted to her vehicle under heavy police presence.
Once she left the building, Joshua Kanhai, the founding member of The New Movement (TNM), was taken into police custody. Kanhai, a medical doctor, told reporters that he was pushed into the room next to Justice Singh’s office.
Anter Narine, an observer attached to AmCham Guyana, was also taken into custody. They were taken to the Brickdam Police Station for allegedly breaching police orders. AmCham has since issued a statement, disclosing that a decision was taken to expel Narine. “AmCham was reliably informed that Mr. Narine breached Code of Conduct as an observer tonight. We wish Mr. Narine success in his future endeavors,” AmCham said. Up to press time, GECOM had not issued a statement on the issue. Meanwhile, from the time results were declared by the Returning Officer, APNU+AFC supporters started to assemble at various points leading to the command centre. At the intersection of High Street and Brickdam, scores of supporters stood behind the police barricade, shouting “Granger! Granger!” as they celebrated the APNU+AFC’s electoral victory in in Region Four by a landslide and the general and regional elections by a slight majority.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_03_06_2020