President David Granger will not be able to escape accountability for the events post the March 2 general and regional elections, the PPP says.
In a statement responding to one made on Monday by Granger, in which he said that at all times he has acted in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of Guyana, the PPP said no attempt by Granger to whitewash what occurred will succeed. The president had also said that he has no control over the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and urged the public to allow the electoral body “to execute its mandate to deliver credible elections to the Guyanese people.”
“The PPP wishes to stress that this is one time Mr Granger will not be able to escape accountability. The events of last week occurred in full view of Guyanese; members of the diplomatic community; and international observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, Organization of American States, CARICOM and the Carter Center,” the PPP statement yesterday said.
“It was Mr Granger who embraced a fraudulent declaration from the Region 4 Returning Officer. It was Mr Granger who claimed victory even before the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) made a final declaration. It was Mr Granger who was in a haste to have himself sworn in as president,” the PPP argued.
The statement said that social media, the vigilance of political parties and the presence of local and international observers, as well as members of the local diplomatic corps, made clear the facts of what took place at the GECOM Command Centre on High and Hadfield streets.
It added that while Granger tries to cast blame on the PPP for what he calls an “interruption” of GECOM’s work, “the fact of the matter is that the verification process was running smoothly and hundreds of Statements of Poll were verified, before a spreadsheet, with substantial variations in favour of the coalition, was introduced into the process.”
The statement said that there was vociferous protests by all the political parties, all of which called for the use of the spreadsheet to be discontinued and for there to be a return to verification of results for Region Four using the Statements of Poll, as is required by law.
“It is public knowledge that the Chief Election Officer, only after vocal protests, assured all the political parties – in the presence of the international observers and members of the diplomatic corps – that the verification process would recommence and be completed, in accordance with the law, using the Statements of Poll,” the PPP said. According to the party, the process recommenced and was going well, until the Chair of GECOM, retired Justice Claudette Singh, stopped it on the basis of ‘compassionate’ grounds for GECOM staffers. Within hours thereafter, without resuming the verification process, a “fraudulent” declaration was made by the Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, the statement said.
“The only party guilty of a falsification of reality is the one Mr Granger leads,” the PPP contended.
The party said that Granger should answer several questions including why the signature of Volda Lawrence, the Chairperson of the PNCR, is affixed to the declaration of the Region Four Returning Officer, when the declarations of the other nine regions only have the stamp and signature of the Returning Officers of those areas. It also asked about the unavailability of Mingo since making the declaration of results and why Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings “threaten(ed) to revoke” the accreditation of members of the international election observer missions. The party also questioned why Minister of Public Telecommunications Cathy Hughes and others were “peddling falsehoods about Russians hacking into our electoral system” when that system is a manual system.
“Why the fear about returning to verification of the election results Statement of Poll by Statement of Poll, and/or a recount, if there is such confidence in an electoral victory?” the PPP questioned.
It asked why should Guyanese believe Granger when the international election observers, individual countries, the political parties, among other stakeholders, have said that the declaration of results for Region Four is “fraudulent.”
The PPP emphasised that there be must a return to the process of verifying the results of the March 2 polls for Region Four using the Statements of Polls, as required by law, and/or a recount of the ballots cast.
“This is the only process that will deliver free and fair elections and ensure that the will of the Guyanese people is not subverted,” the party said.
