Last Monday, Guyanese voters took to the polling stations to cast their ballots for general and regional elections following the 21 December 2018 vote of no confidence in the Government. In their editorial columns, both the Stabroek News and the Guyana Chronicle as well as this column called on citizens to allow for peace and calm to prevail. There were also several letters to the editor to this effect.
Media reports indicated that voting began and ended smoothly in various parts of the country. The following day, the chair of GECOM declared the elections free and fair. The diplomatic missions of the United States and the UK were also in high praise for the peaceful atmosphere on polling day and called on all Guyanese to respect the final results.
Results of Statements of Poll
During the evening of elections day, Stabroek News published the results of 50 Statements of Poll (SOPs) for general elections, representing a mere two percent of the 2,339 polling stations. On Tuesday, it published two updates of the results involving 175 SOPs. It soon became evident that the contest was going to be a close one between the APNU+AFC and the PPP/C.
GECOM’s release of the results
On Tuesday, GECOM released preliminary results from 139 polling stations for general elections. Of the 30,621 votes cast, APNU+AFC garnered 19,139 votes while the PPP/C received 11,032. On Wednesday, it released the results of 322 polling stations in respect of general elections. Of the 67,974 votes cast, 37,247 went for PPP/C while 29,752 went to APNU+AFC. In terms of regional elections, the results of 259 polling stations were released. Of the 54,801 votes cast, PPP/C received 29,086 while APNU+AFC received 24,639.
GECOM gave a further update on Wednesday. For general elections, the results of 418 polling stations indicated that the total votes cast amounted to 90,109 of which PPP/C received 45,945 while APNU+AFC received 39,339. In terms of regional elections, the results of 332 polling stations indicated that the total votes cast amounted to 67,323 of which the PPP/C won 36,043 while APNU+AFC received 29,802. A second update was given in the evening but for regional elections only. The total votes cast amounted to 247,379 in respect of eight regions. PPP/C received 148,429 while APNU+AFC received 95,846. The two regions for which the results were yet to be provided are Regions 4 and 8. At this point, there were no concerns about the results, and the political parties and the international observers appeared satisfied.
The release of the results for Region 4 for both general and regional elections was halted Tuesday evening because the Returning Officer reportedly stated that he was too tired to continue. On the following day (Wed-nesday), he reportedly fell sick and was rushed to the hospital. The Returning Officer was later discharged and returned to work. However, a controversy erupted over the introduction of a spreadsheet prepared by a GECOM staff member which did not match the information contained in the SOPs. The matter was, however, quickly resolved with the Commission agreeing to continue using the SOPs and to abandon the use of the spreadsheet.
Around Wednesday evening GECOM’s website ceased releasing results, and all previous entries were removed and replaced by the words ‘Preliminary Results Coming Soon’ for both general and regional elections. However, early Thursday, the print media published the results for Region 8 indicating that of the votes cast, PPP/C received 2,041 while APNU+AFC received 2,086. The total of the votes cast for all ten regions, except Region 4, therefore amounted to 256,980 of which the PPP/C received 152,121 while APNU+AFC received 100,682.
On Thursday evening, the peace that prevailed in the last three days was broken when the Returning Officer released the results of the regional elections for Region 4. These results showed that of the 215,854 votes cast, APNU+AFC received 136,335 while the PPP/C received 77,258. The announcement was made although an agreement was reached for a further verification of the results to be undertaken following a dispute over the authenticity of data being processed. It also came one hour after three injunctions were granted restraining GECOM, the Chief Election Officer and the Returning Officer of Region 4 from declaring the elections results unless the declaration is done in accordance with the Representation of the People Act. These injunctions resulted from an earlier attempt by the Returning Officer to declare the results for Region 4 although the tabulation and verification exercise had not been completed.
Word very swiftly went around that GECOM was about to declare the APNU+AFC the winner of the general elections without continuing the examination and verification of the SOPs.
Reaction from stakeholders
At a joint media briefing, all the political parties, except APNU+AFC, rejected the announcement of the unverified results released by GECOM for Region 4. Accordingly, they appealed to the international community and local stakeholders to intervene against any attempt to declare APNU+AFC the winner of the general and regional elections.
At a media briefing, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) stated that it was appalled at the ‘blatant and deliberate attempts by GECOM to destroy our democracy’ by circumventing the counting process for the election results and attempts to subvert the will of the people. The umbrella body that represents the business community asserted that:
It is clear to all that the Chairman of GECOM is allowing without objection the attempts to perpetuate election fraud under her watch … The threats to withdraw accreditation from the International Observers further erodes confidence in the process…The PSC is clear on the implications of not having a democratically elected government. We cannot allow our country at this time to be isolated and sanctioned by the international community…We call upon President Granger to ensure that the electoral process is completed in accordance with the law.
The threats referred to in the above statement relates to an incident at which Guyana’s Foreign Minister was accused of threatening to take away the accreditation of foreign observers. This prompted the head of the Commonwealth observer group to state that ‘I speak on behalf of the Commonwealth … and I am not going to have, not me, the Commonwealth, disrespected by a threat to take away the accreditation of the Common-wealth’. The Government, however, swiftly issued a statement regretting the ‘misunderstanding’ of the Minister comments at her meeting with the observers last Thursday when chaos broke out at GECOM’s Region 4 office in Hadfield Street.
Reaction from the diplomatic missions
The diplomatic missions of the United States, Canada, the UK and the EU have also questioned the credibility of the results released by GECOM for Region 4 as the full count for that region had not been completed. Their assessment was based on their observations of the proceedings at the GECOM’s Region 4 office last Thursday. Accordingly, they urged the Commission to expeditiously complete the tabulation on the basis of the statement of polls.
The diplomatic missions issued a further statement in which they expressed deep concern about the credible allegations of electoral fraud which may influence the outcome of the elections. Emphasising that ‘a fair and free process is vital for the maintenance and reinforcement of democracy in Guyana’, they called on all parties involved to ensure proper procedures are in place for a credible election result. The missions also called on President David Granger to avoid a transition of Government which they believe would be unconstitutional as it would be based on a vote tabulation process that lacked credibility and transparency.
The Carter Center also echoed similar sentiments:
Up until today, the electoral process has been a remarkably transparent one with well-administered procedures on election day that provided an opportunity for the Guyanese people to express their will. Today, however, the tabulation process that had been taking place in Region 4 was circumvented, critically undermining transparency and preventing international observers and political parties from observing tabulation. As a result, the election results released today for Region 4 are not credible.
The OAS observer mission added its voice by stating that the review and verification of the SOPs had not been completed and as a result did not reach its proper conclusion as stipulated in the electoral code; and the results published by GECOM do not meet the established standards and should not be acted upon. It called on GECOM and all parties involved to ensure the process properly follows all the steps dictated by the laws of Guyana and are in line with the country’s international commitments. The mission also condemned what it described as ‘acts of violence’ that it had witnessed last Thursday at GECOM’s Region 4 office and asserted that ‘[s]uch actions have no place in any electoral process’.
The CARICOM observer mission expressed its own concerns about allegations relating to the tabulation of results of Region 4. Accordingly, it urged GECOM to ensure that all legal and procedural steps are faithfully complied with as regards the vote count and the declaration of results to ensure that the outcome of the polls expresses the will of the people of Guyana. On Saturday, Chairperson of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, issued a statement calling on all the parties involved to work together to ensure that the results for all the regions are tabulated using the SOPS in a transparent manner in the presence of the representatives of the political parties and the electoral observers. She added, ‘[w]e are very clear, every vote must be made to count; and transparently so’.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator stated that the UN takes note of the statements issued by international observers and the heads of the diplomatic missions in Guyana about their concerns regarding lack of compliance with national legal procedures and the need to resume the tabulation of results for Region 4. In this regard, the Resident Coordinator encouraged the authorities to finalise the process in a manner that leaves no doubt about the credibility of the results as having reflected the will of the people. She further called on all sides to ‘act with calm, patience and in full respect of human rights, the rule of law and Guyana’s constitutional order’.
Meanwhile, Acting Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs is reported to have urged candidates not to declare victory until questions surrounding transparency and credibility of the elections have been settled. Four U.S. congressmen have expressed similar sentiments.
Latest developments
On Saturday, GECOM published on its website the declarations by the Returning Officers for national and regional elections, including declarations for Region 4. For general and regional elections, the declarations showed APNU+AFC receiving 136,458 and 136,335 votes respectively, while the PPP/C received 77,329 and 77,258 respectively. As indicated above, the results for Region 4 are being disputed.
At the time of writing, the country is in a state of civil unrest with protests in several parts. One person has since been killed and several persons injured as a result of police action to quell the violence that erupted. A number of school children were also injured during one of the protests.
On Saturday, the Chief Justice began hearing arguments from the lawyers representing the PPP/C and GECOM in relation to the three injunctions that were granted.
Final thoughts
Every action has consequences, and a dishonourable act cannot produce an honourable outcome. The failure to count each ballot cast in an open and transparent manner thwarts the will of the people to elect a government of their choice, and can lead to a tendency towards authoritarianism and eventually dictatorship. When this happens, the highest form of accountability – accountability to the people – is destroyed; and all others forms of accountability collapse around it. We have witnessed how the electoral process was severely tampered with on four occasions during the period 1968 to 1985, to produce a government that did not represent the will of the people. By 1981, the country had ground to a halt economically and was declared technically bankrupt.
No amount of oil wealth will save us from economic disaster if we do not respect the will of the people and their right to elect a government of their choice to manage on their behalf the affairs of the State. Are we now witnessing the first sign of the ‘resource curse’ appearing on the horizon?
