Five days after Monday’s general elections, the country is still waiting for a final declaration of results and the swearing in of a President. This is absolutely disgraceful and the blame rests primarily with the GECOM Chair Justice (r’td) Claudette Singh and Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield.
In the vacuum, one death was reported in yesterday’s unrest along the coast over the disputed elections and there were several injuries. We urge that those protesting the election results declared thus far for Region Four conduct their demonstrations in a manner that does not disrupt traffic or cause injury to passers-by.
In the vacuum, there is also a threat to constitutional rule if an illegal swearing in of Mr Granger occurs. Mr Granger would be making a huge miscalculation if he believes that being sworn in without full verification of the Region Four results will go unchallenged.
While the voting process on Monday had been smooth and Statements of Poll (SoPs) had been transmitted from the over 2,000 polling stations across the country, the GECOM Chair failed to assert adequate oversight of the verification process for Region Four. Between her and Mr Lowenfield, the verification which would have conclusively established the winner of the election was allowed to descend into farce.
However, it wasn’t only farce. Several incidents at the office of the Returning Officer for Region Four between Tuesday and Wednesday established that chicanery was in the air. The questionable spreadsheet that appeared on Wednesday and the surfacing of an incriminating flash drive that led to the police being called in raise concerns about whether there was collusion among GECOM staff in favour of APNU+AFC.
The fact that neither Justice Singh nor Mr Lowenfield, has surfaced since the events of Wednesday and Thursday to explain their behaviour to the public is shocking. In their respective capacities, both Justice Singh and Mr Lowenfield have a duty to act to secure the integrity of the elections. Furthermore, they have a duty to report to the public on the steps they have taken to ensure an authentic final result.
Thus far, five days on, the Guyanese public remains in the dark about what Mr Lowenfield intends to do about the incomplete verification of the SoPs. Will he order a resumption in Region Four? Will he grant the application for a recount in Region Four? Or will there be an attempt to hastily declare results after lulling the public into a false sense of security. After all, that was exactly what the Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo had done.
It bears repeating that the attenuating of the verification of the Region Four SoPs has been unanimously criticised by the major observer groups: the Carter Center, the Commonwealth, the OAS, the European Union (EU) and CARICOM. A similar position has been adopted by the United Nations office here, the US, the UK, the EU and Canada. A host of local voices were also heard yesterday speaking out against the abbreviated exercise including the Guyana Human Rights Association.
On the other hand, there has been no support for what GECOM and Mr Mingo engineered in stealth except, of course, from APNU+AFC which was intended to benefit from this fraudulent declaration of results.
The moment of truth has arrived for both Justice Singh and Mr Lowenfield. The only sensible recourse for them is to complete verification of the Region Four SoPs to the satisfaction of the contesting parties and the observer groups and to do this quickly.
The election must not be stolen from the people.
