The Private Sector Com-mission (PSC) is doubling down on its position that a vote recount confined to District 4 is sufficient and to include the other nine Districts is unnecessary and unreasonably prolongs the declaration of the elections results from the March 2nd polls.
In a release on Wednesday, the PSC responded to the criticisms it faced from the APNU+AFC et al regarding the position it has taken on the logic of confining any recount to District 4 instead of returning to a recount including the other nine Districts.
The Commission pointed out that the conduct and tabulation of the votes were never disputed in any of the other nine Districts up to the time when the Returning Officer for District 4, Clairmont Mingo, along with Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, and Deputy Chief Election Officer, Roxanne Myers, “delivered a fraudulent result, observed and condemned by all of the Local and International Observers and the Diplomatic Community.”
Of even greater significance, the PSC says, is the fact that when Lowenfield, attempted to report a final result to the Commission, which included the fraudulent District 4 count, his report also included all of the other Districts as already counted “without any objection from the APNU+AFC.”
And in fact, it continued, at the point in time when the District 4 tabulation and declaration came under widespread local and international questions for its credibility, the declaration of the results of the other nine Districts had been accepted by all of the contesting political parties. Further, it was only after the tabulation and verification of the count in District 4 were exposed as fraudulent and that a demand for a recount was made that the APNU+AFC sought to question the count in the other Districts.
The Commission acknowledged, however, that a recount of the votes cast was requested by the Counting Agent of the APNU+AFC and that the request was approved by the Returning Officer of this District. However, as far as it understands, the recount was shelved on the basis of written correspondence from the APNU+AFC Counting Agent who requested that the activity be suspended because the Coalition was not in possession of the relevant SOPs to allow for efficient participation in the recount.
The PSC also reiterated its position that “it has absolutely no interest in which of the contesting political parties is elected to govern Guyana,” and as one of the Accredited Local Observers, “is totally committed and duty-bound to ensure that a free, fair and credible election result is declared in the shortest possible time by GECOM.”
The Commission says it had noted that the APNU+AFC has now remained in office “as a ‘caretaker’ government” for some 15 months since a No-Confidence Motion was legally passed for its removal from office and the holding of new elections and now “retains office” for some five weeks and counting since the General and Regional Elections have been held.
The release also referred to the recent announcement by the GECOM CEO that a national recount will take 156 days to conclude which it says adds a further five months to the life in the office of an “unelected administration and caretaker President,” which is very much to the point taken by the PSC that the recount be confined to District 4 where the declared results are genuinely in dispute.
Paralyzed
Further, it charged that business activity and, indeed, the country’s economic and social life as a whole, is rapidly being paralyzed by the COVID-19 virus pandemic under an unelected administration which has demonstrated “a much less than satisfactory ability to manage the challenge of the virus.”
The Commission opined that the APNU+AFC administration, because it is unelected, does not command the respect nor recognition of the international community from whom the country desperately needs financial support to fight the virus and so the longer this untenable situation prevails, the worse for the people of Guyana.
It also pointed out that had the District 4 count not been stopped “by the fraud which had taken place within GECOM” and which has not taken place in any of the other Districts, the election results would have long ago been declared and a new democratically elected government would already be in place with the full support of the international community.
The PSC assured that it is not “blind” to the fact that GECOM’s commitment to act as the law prescribes to conduct a recount, has been consistently delayed by the intervention of APNU+AFC election candidate, Ulita Moore, in spite of and in conflict with President Granger’s invitation to CARICOM to facilitate the recount. It feels therefore driven to ask, “Wherefore does the hypocrisy truly lie?”
The private sector body says it recognises that it is the duty and responsibility of GECOM “to put right what it has allowed to be wrong,” by concluding the elections in the shortest possible time. It recognises that it is the duty and responsibility of GECOM to administer a recount of the election results in whatever manner and by whatever method it chooses to do so, within the law, with complete transparency, under local and international observation, “but without further delay, certainly, not another five (5) months. The PSC will support GECOM in doing so,” the release added.
Consternation
On Tuesday, APNU+AFC said it viewed with “great consternation” the utterances by the PSC with regard to the national recount of ballots in the recent National and Regional Elections of March 2020.
In a statement, it said: “In the first instance, the Coalition notes that this statement has arrived after the GECOM had clearly communicated to the Guyanese public, their intention to recount all of the ballots from all of the ten Electoral Districts in a sequential manner, starting from District One.
“We draw to the attention of all Guyanese, PSC’s insistence that only a recount of District Four be undertaken and their condemnation of a total recount as an “entire waste of time”.
“The Coalition wishes to point out the absolute hypocrisy of this position, given that Guyanese from District 1 – Barima/Waini to District 10 -Upper Demerara/Berbice would have exercised their franchise and should too be granted the assurance that their votes are accounted for. Afterall, any government elected in the Co-operative Republic of Guyana would be a government of ALL the people.
“This simplistic posture of the PSC, not only abrogates the transparency they claim to seek, but has removed the veil of neutrality in which it ought to be cloaked and incontrovertibly identifies that entity as a mere stooge of the Opposition PPP/C. It is now obvious to all that the political bias of the PSC does not even allow them to acknowledge that there were discrepancies in other Districts, which led to the APNU+AFC asking for a recount in Districts 3 and 6 amongst others which was refused by Returning Officers”.
The coalition added that it continues to be confident of its victory at the polls and like the rest of the nation, looks forward to a declaration in that regard.
