Chairman of the Joint Services, Brigadier Mark Phillips has condemned former APNU parliamentarian James Bond for posting on his Facebook page purported election results from one of the polling stations during the disciplinary forces voting yesterday.
The attorney today defended his post saying that it was based on an exit poll. “An Example of what occurred today at Whim Police Station…total number of voters 165… Number of Votes Cast 147…. APNU+AFC 140…PPP 7…,” is what Bond posted on his Facebook page after announcing that 98% of the votes cast on Saturday went to the opposition alliance. He later reduced the figure to 94%.
“This is distasteful at best…and extremely irresponsible behavior by a former member of Parliament given that there is no way the results of any polling place of today’s (Saturday’s) Joint Services voting can be known according to GECOM,” Phillips said in a statement.
The statement said that the Joint Services are calling on the authorities at GECOM to explain to the public whether there exists any possibility for a process they assured the nation would be secret, to have been made public.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has repeatedly emphasized that the ballots cast by members of the Joint Services would not be counted separately but would be done with the general population following the May 11th general elections.
According to the statement, the “development”-the post by Bond – is extremely worrying since he is an attorney and a candidate for the APNU+AFC list and is expected to exercise good judgement in all matters pertaining to the electorate and the electoral process “and not seek in any way to incite mayhem among the populace.”
The Joint Services assured the nation that they remain committed to a peaceful electoral process and urged calm during and after the elections.
For his part, Bond in defending his post described the issue as a “storm in a tea cup” pointing out that in all modern democracies, exit polls are done. In his initial posts, Bond did not explicitly state that the “results” he posted came from an exit poll and when asked about this by Stabroek News, he indicated that most of his followers were aware that an exit poll was done.
While some of those who commented on the post seemed aware that an exit poll was done, others were not and questioned how Bond would have known the figures when GECOM made it clear that the votes are not counted separately. “…all right thinking Guyanese know that it is impossible given the checks and balances at GECOM for anyone to know the number of votes cast for the individual parties at yesterday’s polling of the Disciplined Services,” Bond said in a statement.
He said that it was impossible also for someone reading his poll to be persuaded to incite mayhem or cause mayhem. “In previous electoral cycles, the Disciplined Forces has voted for the opposition and this exit poll showed no change in that pattern. It is a known pattern of voting by that section of our society,” Bond stressed.
He added that the poll itself could not therefore be unethical or unlawful or illegal and “ought not to cause GECOM to even bat an eyelid.” He declared that the exit poll is what obtains in modern democracies but said that if it caused the disciplined forces uneasiness, he apologises to its members.
“I wish however to state the support the Disciplined Forces give the opposition is a direct result of the PPP/C Government wrongfully accusing them in many instances,” Bond added in the statement. Further, he said, the support given to the opposition is a direct result of the PPP/C government starving the forces of a decent wage and better working conditions.
“The PPP/C has used the army in particular as a (bogey) man to instill fear in a section of our Guyanese society and this should command the attention and energies of the Disciplined Forces and not an exit poll which was published on Facebook,” he asserted.
However, some of those who commented on the post that dealt with the purported figures from the Whim polling station did not agree with it, with one commentator describing it as being “reckless.”
“Now sir, the way you communicated the results suggested there was an actual count even though (GECOM) said repeatedly those votes would be counted with the May 11th ballots. Further, there was no mention of the results being an exit poll or more appropriately, an explanation of what’s an exit poll,” the individual said. He further added that it should not be said that the figures resulting from an exit poll was a reasonable deduction.
“While there is nothing unethical about an exit poll communicating those results, the way you did was probably unethical,” the individual further said.
Another person felt that Bond could have simply predicted the coalition securing most of the votes from the Joint Services as opposed to posting numbers said to be obtained from an exit poll. “Firstly, it (appears) improper to question someone at the polling station on how they voted. I wore that uniform and voted in that uniform so I can understand how improper what you did is. If you do not see a problem, then carry on…”
Bond for his part told the individual – also an attorney – that as a lawyer he ought not to assume since his singular basis on deeming the exit poll improper is that “I JAMES A BOND questioned voters is a reckless assumption hence your entire reason for deeming it improper stands on shaky legs.”
Another person who commented on the post saw nothing wrong with the exit poll but suggested that the context should have been taken into consideration. “The PPP has been using the (bogey) of an APNU-military takeover to scare their supporters. You signaling that the armed forces are strongly in the opposition camp does nothing to quell the fears [former President Bharrat] Jagdeo’s ludicrous assertion may have stirred up. Situational sensitivity I think they call it,” the person said.
Jagdeo, among other things, has warned his party supporters that should the coalition win, members of the military would kick down their doors and questioned who would be there to support them.
Some other persons, meantime, expressed concern about President Donald Ramotar visiting polling stations dressed in his party’s colour.
