The major parties appealed for calm yesterday as results from the elections continued to trickle in and figures from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the AFC pointed to a possible close race for the presidency between the ruling PPP/C and opposition coalition APNU.
The PPP/C last night called on GECOM to make preliminary results public as soon as possible, saying that it would relieve the “disquiet” among citizens “as they anxiously await the election results.” The call came hours after the PPP/C requested recounts in regions 3, 4 and 10, which both major opposition parties APNU and AFC refused to participate in, with the former expressing concern over “interference” in the elections process. TUF, the other contesting party in the national polls, did not object to the PPP/C’s request. The call for a recount of ballots in some polling areas, PPP/C said, “must not be misconstrued as an attempt to interrupt or delay the ongoing counting process and declaration of results.” Political observers however say the call for recounts is a sign that the PPP/C acknowledges that it is in a tight race for the presidency.
National results televised by GECOM at about 10 pm last evening saw APNU recording 42,619 votes, followed by the PPP/C with 38,768 votes. The AFC, GECOM said, had recorded 9,270 votes, while the TUF had 150 votes. The total valid votes were 90,807.
The AFC, meanwhile, announced yesterday afternoon that after tallying about 30 percent of the Statements of Poll from their agents, the APNU with 65,623 votes and the PPP/C with 58,257 votes, were locked in a close battle for the presidency, while it was in third with 16,200 votes and TUF last with 730 votes.
The AFC said it had made significant inroads in breaking “the toxic scourge of racial voting.” “The Party has solidified its status as the conscience of the nation and is enthused by the support it has received from a wide cross section of Guyanese, which demonstrates that there is a significant shift away from traditional voting patterns,” it added.
The PPP/C meanwhile said it requested a meeting with GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally last evening so that it could encourage the commission to announce the preliminary results in the interest of all. “It is the PPP/C’s fervent wish that GECOM will consider the severity of the situation and take appropriate action,” it said, while calling on all Guyanese “to remain calm and exercise patience as they await the results of the elections.”
Contacted prior to the statement from the party, PPP/C presidential candidate Donald Ramotar declined to comment on the elections results so far.
Earlier in the day, APNU denounced the PPP/C for saying that it had won the presidency on its Facebook page and it reported the situation to Dr Surujbally, while noting that it was a reckless move and an incitement to public disorder.
Surujbally later reported to APNU that he had been informed by the PPP/C that the proclamation was the work of “over enthusiastic party supporters” and disassociated themselves from its content. The PPP/C later posted on its page that GECOM officials advised it to remove the announcement on the presidency. “We have therefore complied and the announcement has been removed. Rest assured the official announcements will be made soon,” it posted.
‘Interference’
Meanwhile, following the requests by the PPP/C, APNU said it would not participate in any recount of the votes, explaining that it had no confidence that the integrity of ballot boxes has not been compromised since the end of official counting on Monday evening.
Seal
At a news conference at Congress Place, APNU campaign manager Joseph Harmon pointed to incidents that occurred at various polling stations after close of polls yesterday involving several members associated with the PPP/C. The incidents included the discovery of a GECOM seal with number #0023154 that was found yesterday in the East Ruimveldt School compound on Mandela Avenue by one of the party’s agents. Such seals, he indicated, are used to secure ballot boxes after the count of ballots. A GECOM official later told this newspaper that it had not received a report of the discovery, while saying that it would be investigated once this was done.
Meanwhile, Harmon said that at 6pm last evening, APNU had not been officially informed by GECOM of the request for the recount. “APNU will, therefore, not participate in any recount of votes since all statements of poll have, as required by the electoral laws, been signed by the presiding officers and the polling agents and posted outside of each of the polling stations,” he said.
APNU’s presidential candidate David Granger also insisted that there were no grounds for a recount. “We don’t have a clue what they are querying because the regions that have been affected are regions 3, 4 and 10,” he said, adding that the coalition was not given any specific statement about any of the grounds for a recount. “There are no questioned ballots and there are no rejected ballots,” Granger said, “and our interpretation of the law is that those are two grounds for recount; that ballots are specifically questioned or ballots are specifically rejected.” He added that there could not be a “blanket recount,” while noting that if the law allowed such a situation recounting could go on until December.
Questioned as to whether APNU is prepared to accept the results by GECOM, Granger expressed concern about the level interference by other parties. “…If the process follows the legitimate path, yes we would accept the results,” he said. “But what is happening now is there is interference by another party, particularly persons concerned with the PPP/C and that is compromising the process,” he said.
He added that at that point APNU could not anticipate what the response would be because the process had already “gone out of kilter.”
APNU’s prime ministerial Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, meanwhile, expressed concern at GECOM’s delay in releasing results. “So far we don’t have problem with what GECOM has been putting out although I want to say that we believe that the way this is being done on Channel 11 right now is causing great concern,” he said, while responding to a question.
According to Roopnaraine, the slow release of results is causing great concern and raising anxiety. APNU urged its supports to be calm and to keep the peace in face of the long delay.
‘Compromised’
Meanwhile, the AFC said that it objected to the recounts being hastily commissioned by GECOM, upon the request of the PPP/C.
“The AFC received a request late this afternoon (yesterday) to be present at a recount at the Region Three GECOM Centre at 6pm,” the party said in a release. “In addition to the short notice this request was not accompanied by any information pertaining to the ballot boxes to be recounted or the reason for the recounts,” the party said, adding that it had to request the information pertaining to the ballot boxes in question.
This information continued to be outstanding the AFC said were: ballot boxes numbers, places of poll, copies of certified Statements of Poll and reasons for the recounts.
“The AFC has made it clear that the transparency of this process will be questioned if proper procedures for informing contesting political parties and information relating to the ballot boxes in question are not provided in advance to ensure the integrity of the process,” the statement said.
“The AFC puts its supporters and the nation on notice that the process is compromised. The Party eagerly awaits a response from GECOM,” the party added.
“We feel that the entire process smells to high heaven,” AFC leader Raphael Trotman told Stabroek News last evening. He noted that it was the PPP/C who has routinely insisted that the Statements of Polls be posted outside polling stations and that they be deemed as the final result. He said that the AFC would not recognize as legally valid any recount that has not been properly certified.
Meantime, Peter Persaud, the presidential candidate for TUF told Stabroek News that “GECOM has been doing a wonderful job” since the elections has started. Regarding the release of results, Persaud said that the Commission would have “to release results as they come,” while noting that it would be difficult to get ballot boxes from a lot of polling stations in the interior regions. GECOM said that the statements of poll from regions 1, 7, 8 and 9 had not reached Georgetown as of midday yesterday and that they were expected late yesterday.
Questioned about the PPP/C’s requests for recounts, Persaud said that the party probably has justification for this based on what it was told by its polling agents and other officials on the ground.
Persaud said that he wanted official results to be declared by GECOM by this afternoon. TUF, he said, would want all parties to be mature and to accept the results after they have been declared.
