The AFC this afternoon called on President Donald Ramotar to apologise to the electorate and retract charges he made in a newspaper interview that the AFC and the APNU manipulated the election results at certain polling stations.
The President made the statement in an interview that appeared in the state-owned Sunday Chronicle and he also stated that the 48.3% of the votes that the party got should really have been around 52% to 53%. Ramotar’s statement has already been condemned by Leader of the Opposition, David Granger. Neither of the two overseas observer groups which monitored the November 28 general elections, the Commonwealth and the OAS, cited any irregularities with the voter count or with the final result.
The AFC statement follows:
“The AFC has noted with total disgust the recent comments by President Donald Ramotar accusing the AFC and APNU of rigging the 2011 Elections and campaigning along racial lines. This is totally unbecoming of the President and is designed to destabilise the political dispensation that the electorate voted for. It is a slap in the face for all those who took the time to go out and vote on Polling Day 2011.
“The electorate and all the people of Guyana know that the entire elections process was controlled by the government. The PPP/C had the greatest number of polling agents and other staff out on polling day, how could the AFC rig the elections?
“The AFC considers it totally ridiculous that President Ramotar would point to racial campaigning during the elections. The electorate knows full well, those, who over the years have campaigned on the race card.
“It is clear that President Ramotar does not intend to honour the will of the people as demonstrated by their votes at the last elections. The PPP/C excesses of the past and rampant abuse of power make it difficult for them to relax their stranglehold on power. They clearly fear the effectiveness of this new political dispensation and see themselves being forced to answer to the people and confirm with the Constitution of Guyana. This is alien to the PPP/C.
“The AFC calls on President Ramotar to apologise to the electorate and fully retract his statement.”
