The Government of Guyana (GoG) on Saturday criticised the editorial in that day’s edition of Stabroek News on the general elections impasse and accused the newspaper of an agenda of “engendering destabilization”.
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud in a comment yesterday said that the newspaper stood firmly behind the editorial and rejected the destabilization charge as patently baseless.
The GoG made the criticism without referring to any particular section of the editorial which had addressed the stalemate flowing from the March 2nd general elections and President David Granger’s apparent disinterest in the public concerns that had been raised about the non-transparent count for Region Four by Western governments, five international observer groups and local monitoring groups.
The editorial had said: “Yet, in all of this, caretaker President Mr David Granger has maintained a stony, studied incuriosity about all of the credible concerns raised that the Region Four vote is being fiddled to give APNU+AFC an artificial and hollow victory. There has not been a single utterance by the President evincing any concern that the Region Four result that was declared for his coalition on March 5th, and which was finally completed (on Friday) based on an order by the Chief Justice, might be fixed”.
In an apparent reference to this section of the editorial, the GoG statement cited the section of a ruling on Thursday by Chief Justice Roxane George on an application seeking to ensure the lawful tabulation of votes for Region Four.
“[I]t would be for the Returning Officer and the Deputy Returning Officer to decide whether to restart or continue the process. It is their decision to make. And I would also repeat here it would be their decision to decide what is the best method for tabulating the Statements of Poll. So, I want to emphasise that everybody else who thinks they can have an input and a say it is not their statutory duty.”
The GoG statement said: “The Chief Justice could not have been more explicit in her ruling. Stabroek News appears to have skirted over this most carefully precise declaration by the Chief Justice.
“Further, what Stabroek News did not mention in its clearly biased and malicious editorial was that the revered independence of the Guyana Elections Commission is sacrosanct and rigidly and robustly safeguarded by the Constitution. It is insulated from political influence, instruction and interference. The Constitution at Article 62 charges the Commission with the conduct of elections”.
The statement added that unlike Stabroek News’ insinuation, the Commission must be allowed and was allowed by President Granger and the Executive to function independently. “President Granger did not seek to influence, interfere or instruct in any form whatsoever. To do so would have been a breach of the Constitution”, the GoG said.
It also cited what Granger said on 9th March, in an address to the nation:
“[A]t all times, I have acted in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of Guyana. After the elections on March 2nd, the nation awaited the declaration of the results by the Elections Commission after completing its work.
“GECOM is an independent constitutional agency over which I and the Executive have no control. I assure you, that as President, I cannot, did not and will not interfere in the work of GECOM.”
Persaud in a comment said that the newspaper apprehends and respects the full constitutional responsibilities and mandate of GECOM but that did not mean that the body was free of the prospect of subversion or undermining and in those instances newspapers and other watchdogs must comment and hold accountable all who have responsibilities in this matter.
Persaud pointed out that notwithstanding the constitutionally “revered independence” cited by the GoG, President Granger himself has now asked GECOM to agree to a CARICOM-supervised recount of ballots for all 10 districts and GECOM has acquiesced. This development, Persaud said, validates the efforts made to ensure that the irregular tabulation of votes for Region Four and the accompanying machinations were exposed. The GoG statement also defended its position on the process that followed the successful motion of no confidence in Parliament. The editorial had said that there was a pattern of behaviour following the motion of no-confidence of President Granger’s intent not to hand over power.
The GoG statement said: “The government, since the passage of the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly on the 21st December 2018, sought to respect the decision of the court. As was the government’s right and guided by the Speaker of the National Assembly, the validity of the no-confidence motion was challenged. The government (also) defended the challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of the Chairman of the Elections Commission.
“The legal processes which were initiated were neither frivolous nor calculated to delay the consequences of the no-confidence vote. In fact, they sought to explain more clearly and to interpret certain provisions of the Constitution. The legal challenges were taken to the Supreme Court, then to the Court of Appeal and, finally, to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s final court”.
The GoG statement said that following the CCJ ruling on 18th June 2019, the President and the Leader of the Opposition met on 4th July 2019 on a new candidate for the Chair of GECOM and on 26th July, the President received from the Leader of the Opposition six names not unacceptable to him and on that same day Justice Claudette Singh was chosen from that list”.
The GoG statement said that “due process and the rule of law and all constitutional provisions were dutifully adhered to. Where the court ruled, such rulings were scrupulously followed without deviation or delay”.
The GoG statement charged that “Stabroek News’ editorial seeks to enhance the carefully crafted opposition narrative of foul play when in fact none such exist and all indications are that it is they, the opposition, in concert with their foreign agents who have been busy concocting and executing schemes designed to delay the electoral process and derail democracy in Guyana”.
It added that GoG “rejects, in toto, the biased Stabroek News editorial and calls on all Guyanese to be cognizant of Stabroek News’ obvious agenda of engendering destabilization, discord and disenchantment”.
The SN editorial concluded in this way: “For the avoidance of doubt, it must be clear to Mr Granger that were he to be sworn in as President on these debased results he and his regime would be pariahs both here and abroad. He would gain no recognition but would instead invite dissent across a broad range of platforms and forums. A stolen election will become a veritable nightmare for him and those who benefit from this shameful rigging”.
