Yet there is also cause for alarm [relating to the COVID-19 pandemic]. Many governments have quickly resorted to extreme measures, including increased surveillance, restrictions of the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and the closing of space for civil society, the media and whistleblowers.
Where authoritarianism was on the rise before the crisis, checks and balances on political power are likely to deteriorate even further. This will fuel, and be fueled by, corruption. Our report shows that many of the key trends of the pre-pandemic era are simply accelerating as a result of the health and economic crises.
Transparency International
The anti-corruption body in Sudan has confiscated assets valued at US$4 billion belonging to former President Omar al-Bashir, his family members and associates. Al Bashir was deposed by the army a year ago amid mass protests against his 30-year rule. He was jailed in December after being found guilty of illicitly possessing millions of dollars in foreign currencies. Al-Bashir was also indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity committed in the western region of Darfur. (See https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/sudan-recovers-4-billion-of-assets-from-ex-president-omar-al-bashir-1.1590250039393.)
Over in Papua New Guinea, former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has been charged with ‘misappropriation, abuse of office and official corruption’ involving the purchase of two generators for more than US$14 million in breach of the country’s public financial management law, without parliamentary approval and without tendering. O’Neill resigned in May last year after a motion of no confidence was tabled in the legislature against his government because of concerns over a natural gas agreement with the French oil company Total and U.S. ExxonMobil. Several ministers were also forced to demit office. (See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/24/papua-new-guinea-police-arrest-former-pm-peter-oneill-over-alleged-corruption.)
On the global warming and climate change front, the U.S. Court of Appeal ruled that state courts have jurisdiction to hear the lawsuits against oil companies for promoting petroleum as environmentally responsible when in fact they knew it was contributing to drought, wildfires, and sea level rise associated with global warming. The lawsuits claimed that Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other companies, have created a public nuisance. Accordingly, they should pay for damage from climate change and help build sea walls and other infrastructure to protect against future impact. (See https://ca.yahoo.com/news/big-oil-loses-appeal-climate-182053394.html.)
When oil producers are unable to capture the natural gas that comes up alongside crude and in order to continue production, they ignite the gas known as flaring or release it directly into the atmosphere, known as venting. In 2018, some 145 billion cubic feet of natural gas was flared globally, equivalent to what Central and South America use in a year. Flaring emits more than 350 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, representing carbon emissions of 90 coal-fired power plants. In the United States, it accounts for an estimated nine percent of the greenhouse gas emissions of the oil and gas industry. Flaring pollutes the environment through the spewing of particulate matter, soot and toxins into the air that are hazardous to human health. (See https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-30/flaring-or-why-so-much-gas-is-going-up-in-flames-quicktake.)
In Guyana, ExxonMobil has flared more than 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas since it commenced oil production last December. Apart from the environmental damage it would have caused, former Petroleum Advisor Jan Mangal stated that the flaring could have been avoided if the proposed gas-to-shore pipeline project had been implemented. The project was stalled because of disagreement as regards the location of the site for the landing of the pipes and the setting up of a power station. He further stated that the Inter-American Development Bank was willing to fund a comprehensive study to determine the best location along Guyana’s coastline. However, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure was against the study, and there have been
suggestions that the Government has in mind either Mahaicony or west side of the Demerara River.
The Department of Energy has clarified that the project is well advanced and that there are plans to engage the private sector. Incidentally, significant amounts of developmental works are being undertaken on both sides of the Mahaica Bridge involving mainly clearing of some 1,000 acres of land and constructing of internal roads. However, it is not clear whether this relates to pipeline project and whether it is a governmental initiative or a private one.
In calling on Exxon to stop flaring gas offshore in Guyana, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) emphasized that ‘flaring releases greenhouse gases and toxins, threatening the global climate, the local environment, and public health’. CIEL further asserted:
The Guyanese people were sold the myth of endless revenue from oil and gas sales. With oil prices plummeting and gas so worthless that Exxon would rather burn it than capture and sell it, Guyana’s people deserve to ask whether the false promise of oil wealth will be enough to outweigh the mounting costs of climate reality.
And in another related matter, at the recently concluded ExxonMobil’s AGM, Tim Brennan, Special Advisor on responsible investing at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), criticized Exxon’s excessive spending of ‘dark’ money in elections that ‘can corrupt democratic institutions and undermine public trust, especially if it comes without full transparency’.
Now for this week’s article. Today marks 91 days since the 2020 general and regional elections were held in Guyana, and a declaration of the results is still to be made. The recount exercise brokered by CARICOM is currently underway. In today’s article, we continue from where we left off last week by providing an update on developments in the last week regarding the recount exercise.
Messages on Independence Day
Last Tuesday marked 54 years since Guyana attained Independence from Britain. On this day, congratulatory messages were received from various countries, including the United States and the UK. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that Guyana stands on the brink of a new and more prosperous era and urged the government ‘to respect the wishes of the voters, as peacefully expressed in the March 2 election. Any recount should be conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner’. (Emphasis added.) For his part, the British High Commissioner Greg Quinn had the following to say:
Whoever takes charge will have to rule for the benefit of every Guyanese citizen, undertaking whatever constitutional reforms necessary to ensure that happens… Guyana has a bright future, one which we look to see realised following the conclusion of the ongoing election recount process and the swearing in of a president on the basis of a credible election pro-cess. (Emphasis added.)
Extension of deadline for completing the recount
The recount exercise was to have concluded last Saturday. The Elections Commission had requested the approval of the COVID-19 Task Force for two additional workstations to expedite matters. However, the request was denied. The Commission is currently operating with 12 workstations.
Last Friday, the Commission agreed to extend the deadline for the recount to 13 June. After consideration of the observation reports, GECOM will determine whether the Chief Election Officer should be requested to use the data compiled from the recount to amend the report he had initially submitted. That report was held in abeyance pending the outcome of the recount exercise because of concerns relating to the transparency and credibility of the tabulation results for Region 4. GECOM will then make a declaration three days after.
The observation reports contain allegations from the APNU+AFC of electoral fraud, however, so far largely unsubstantiated. This, as well as certain statements that were made, prompted the GECOM Chair to state that the onus is on the persons making the allegations to provide the evidence to substantiate them. Needless to mention, the allegations relate mainly to what transpired on polling day and therefore have no bearing on the recount exercise. At the time of writing, it is not clear whether such evidence was presented to the Commission, although the last statement from APNU+AFC is that over the last week it had sent eleven letters to the Commission. There are also conflicting reports as to whether the Commission has written to the Chief Immigration Officer requesting information about persons who have migrated and are alleged to have voted in the elections without being present in Guyana.
An important aspect of the recount exercise is the role of the CARICOM Scrutinising Team. Paragraph 13 of the gazetted Order requires the Team to submit a report to the Commission which may include their observations, recommendations, and conclusions. Implicit in this, is the requirement for GECOM to consider the Team’s report before making the declaration. However, there was no mention of this in the revised deadline. Indeed, it would be rather unfortunate if GECOM’s declaration does not take into account the Scrutinising Team’s observations and conclusions of the recount exercise. This in turn will significantly dilute CARICOM’s contribution to bringing about a resolution of the impasse currently being experienced. After all, it was the President who has stated that CARICOM remains ‘the most important interlocutor on the Guyana situation’, in direct reference to his refusal to allow the Carter Center to return to observe the recount.
Status of recount
As of last Saturday (Day 25), a total of 1,639 out of 2,339 ballot boxes, or 70.0 percent, were opened and recounted. This gives an average daily count of 65 boxes. At this rate, it will take 36 days to complete the exercise, putting the estimated completion date at 10 June, compared with 13 June agreed on by the Commission.
With 477 out of 879 ballot boxes for Region 4 still to be opened and recounted, there is a risk that the revised deadline will be overrun. This is because there are significantly more ballots in each ballot box for Region 4, compared with those of the other Regions, especially the outlying ones. Perhaps more importantly is the fact that the tabulation of this Region’s votes was the subject of such controversy that a decision was made to undertake the recount of all the votes cast. Therefore, the recount for Region 4 is likely to take more time, especially to resolve disputes as the exercise proceeds in the coming days.
So far, the recounting of the ballots for six regions (Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8) has been completed. Except for minor discrepancies, the results of recounts as shown in the Statements of Recount (SOR) match the information contained in the SOPs that have been prepared at the close of polls and posted at the various polling stations.
Throughout the course of last week, senior officials from APNU+AFC continued to maintain that the coalition won the elections while at the same time contending that there was major electoral fraud in PPP/C strongholds involving mainly voting by persons who have died or were not in the country on polling day. Given the elaborate controls in place at the various polling stations, the presence of party agents as well as local and international observers, it would have been extremely difficult for such irregularities to go unnoticed. All the observers, GECOM Chair and even the President were on record as having stated that everything went well on polling day and that the elections were free and fair.
In a recent television interview, the EU Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz-Cantó, expressed the view that the systems put in place on polling day were so robust that it was impossible to cheat:
One person came to vote. He or she has to identify himself, but then also, he has to be seen on the list and there are pictures, which in my country, we never had pictures. So, I was quite positively impressed. And everybody could see everything. And at the end of the vote, he has to dip his finger in ink, which in my country, we never did. So, I mean, it was safeguard after safeguard after safeguard. It was impossible to cheat. (Emphasis added.)
We said it very clearly. This tabulation process for Region Four was not credible. It was not reflecting the will of the people. It had clearly followed a process which was not the right process. I saw it personally.
The Permanent Representative of Barbados to the OAS made similar comments to the OAS Permanent Council.
