The Liberty and Justice Party has asked that Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers be excluded from the proposed recount of votes cast in the March 2 Elections.
In an email to Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), LJP leader Lenox Shuman wrote that “considering the public’s and political parties’ interactions or lack thereof with Mr Mingo and Ms Myers, we further recommend that [they] play no part in these recount as their previous actions stand to diminish and undermine the good work and integrity of the Guyana Elections Commission.”
Mingo has been accused of declaring fraudulent results after he allegedly failed to comply with Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act when he tabulated the votes cast. It has also been claimed that while Mingo was present at the High Court to answer charges of contempt, Myers continued the discredited process in his absence.
This recommendation was one of three presented by the party as a means to mitigate the problems surrounding the transparency of the tabulation process.
The party has also recommended that the Commission swiftly adopts a policy that the media must be present and provide live broadcast at/of the Recount.
“This provides the absolute greatest degree of transparency that would instill public confidence in the process and the results of these elections,” Shuman argued.
This recommendation was made against the backdrop that Article 161B of the constitution which limits the role of “Political Parties and their nominees …is limited to their participation in determining policy, monitoring the electoral process and the conduct of elections, but does not include active management of the elections.”
It is not clear if such a measure could be implemented as the Representation of the People Act clearly spells out who can be present at the tabulation Centre during the counting of ballots. The Act also prescribes that information related to tabulation should remain secret until a declaration from the statutory officer.
The final recommendation of the party is that the proposed recount proceed aggressively without delay since over a month has already elapsed with Guyana in electoral purgatory.
“We also ask that the severity of the (coronavirus) pandemic be given its due consideration in your deliberations as the absence of a legitimate government is severely impacting and will continue to negatively impact this nation’s ability to respond,” the party stressed.
