President David Granger yesterday said that his APNU+AFC government will accept the Guyana Elections Commission’s declaration of the result of the March 2nd General and Regional Elections.
“As President of Guyana and leader of the government, it is my policy that any declaration coming from the chairman of GECOM will be accepted by the Government of Guyana. I speak for the Government of Guyana,” Granger yesterday told reporters at a press briefing following his first visit to the site of the recount at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
Granger’s statement means that all eyes will now be focused on GECOM Chair Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, who will cast the decisive vote whenever a final result goes before the Commission for certification.
The caretaker President’s response appeared to jar with one by de facto Attorney General, Basil Williams on Saturday that GECOM does not have the power to render illegitimate the declarations made by the 10 Returning Officers (ROs), including that of embattled Region Four RO Clairmont Mingo. Two declarations were made by Mingo. The first was found by the High Court to be null and void and the second one faces the same jeopardy as contempt of court proceedings were filed in connection with it.
The President yesterday spent about half an hour observing the recount process in the ACCC and then had discussions with GECOM’s Chair.
Following those meetings he went over to the nearby National Aquatic Centre where he held a brief but private meeting with the recount representatives of the governing APNU+AFC.
While he later told the media that he received complaints during his visit yesterday morning about the process, he did not go into detail about what they were but said he asked the Chairperson of the Commission, in the presence of the CARICOM observer team, to address them.
Asked if the issues pertained to a decision that the National COVID-19 Task Force is still to make on a request by GECOM to increase the number of counting stations at the ACCC, he said it was not.
“It was raised in confidence and it was by a privileged group, and it would be unacceptable for me to speak before the Chairman and commissioners make a decision…I don’t want to preempt her decision,” he said, while adding that it was two issues, which he believes “should not at this time be subjects of debate.”
He stressed that he had confidence in the CARICOM team of scrutineers being present for the recount and wants to assure the public that they are enough to give assurance that the process is a transparent and credible one.
“I am very confident in CARICOM’s integrity and ability and I would just like to repeat what the Ambassador of Barbados (to the OAS, Noel Lynch said) that CARICOM is the most legitimate interlocutor on the Guyana situation. I am inspired by that remark and I share the sentiment that CARICOM is the most important interlocutor on the Guyana situation,” Granger said.
“CARICOM was here before, as you know… and is a reliable partner in our development and they are … competent to do what they came here to do. I am obliged to work with the CARICOM team…,” he added.
Respect
And with the CARICOM team given the okay by the COVID-19 Task Force to enter Guyana and the Carter Center rejected, Granger was asked about the controversial decision and said it was solely made from a health perspective as “COVID is real.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to the Carter Center to the United States Senate, she responded to the US Ambassador (to Guyana) and explained the position of the Government of Guyana and everything she has written is in accord with the Government of Guyana. The elections were held on the 2nd March and we welcomed all of those observer missions. We know that the Carter Center is friends with Guyana. We don’t have any issue with the Carter Center, or the EU or the OAS or any observer mission that we welcomed to Guyana,” he said.
“Since the 2nd March, the public health situation has changed drastically around the world and all we asked is that the new request should be viewed in light of the changed public health situation. That is a matter for the Government of Guyana to decide. As at the 16th March, five days after patient zero, we promulgated a set of measures and this was followed up on the 3rd of April and this was followed up every single week after…We can see what has happened in very developed countries and we ask people to respect the emergency measures that have been implemented by the Government of Guyana. So there is nothing about credibility .The CARICOM team is competent. And I am very confident that the work that they will do is up to international standards. I don’t disparage the CARICOM team; I don’t dismiss their efforts,” he said. The President scoffed at criticism from the opposition that the rejection of the Carter Center observers using COVID restrictions is an “excuse”.
“The Government of Guyana had been promulgating since the 11th March when [the first COVID patient died]. COVID is not an excuse. COVID is a reality and we don’t have to use COVID, a pandemic which has already killed thousands of people all around the world, as an excuse. It is not something whimsical, it is not bad weather it is a fatal disease and it is not an empty excuse,” he stressed.
Critics have said that while the government has cited COVID-19 as an excuse to keep out the Carter Center it has let in hundreds of ExxonMobil oil workers without qualms.
The Carter Center last week said that it again wrote to government explaining that it will meet this country’s COVID-19 safeguard criteria if allowed back in.
However, government last week denied a second request citing CARICOM’s ongoing role in the process and the closure of the airports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US, Canada and the United Nations among others have been urging the return of the Carter Center amid concerns that attempts are being made to rig the results of the March 2nd general elections.
On the same day government rejected the Carter Center’s request, a private charter with about 70 ExxonMobil employees was allowed entry into the country.
Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General, Egbert Field last week said that approximately six to eight requests for flights to transport oil and gas workers into Guyana by ExxonMobil have been granted approval by the National COVID-19 Task Force. Each flight averages the same amount of employees.
For the President, the Carter Center’s non-entry is to protect the people of this country.
“It is my duty as president to protect the people of this country. I don’t understand that any country in the world can use COVID as an excuse. COVID is the worst public health crisis for 100 years. That is not an excuse,” he said.
‘Four Cs’
The President said that he is allowing the recount process to proceed unhindered as GECOM is a constitutional body and he will not interfere with its work.
He told the media that dealing with the elections process he has “made it clear” that his government will continue to abide by the constitution and has come up with a “Four Cs” guideline to take them forward.
“Since the second of March I have made it clear that my government will continue to abide by the constitution. It will respect the rulings of the court, it awaits the declaration of the elections commission and most recently, and particularly after the elections, we will rely on the role of the Caribbean Community, in the recount process. That is what is what I call the four Cs – Constitution, Court, Commission and CARICOM,” he said.
And while his coalition has alleged discrepancies in the electoral process, Granger said that he would not speculate on an outcome of the recount or if he would press for new elections if his party is declared loser or winner of the elections.
Pressed on if he thought the elections results were credible he said it would be premature to say this and instead spoke of the process on elections day.
“I would say that the elections were well managed and orderly. Whether the results are credible is to be determined and that is a job for GECOM. On the 2nd of March the elections were conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner. It would be premature to say that the results were credible. The recount is necessary to determine the credibility of March 2nd,” Granger said.
Nonetheless, he said that from the two months and counting wait that has marred this elections, he has learned that there needs to be reforms in the electoral process.
“Whatever happens, we have learnt that there are changes which need to be made in the Guyana electoral system, so that never again should the people of Guyana have to wait this length of time to hear the results of elections which were held on a particular date”, he stated.
