True to form, Guyana’s caretaker President since December 21st 2018 has offered his own jaundiced version of the recount of votes from the March 2nd general elections.
In an address on June 6th to the nation, Mr David Granger said two things which have extinguished the last vestiges of plausible deniability over who should be held accountable for the incumbent APNU+AFC’s tawdry attempt to defy the will of the people as expressed on polling day. Mr Granger must now be seen as the conductor of this cacophony of bewildering and unfounded claims about the elections.
First, he said “The General and Regional Elections were free and orderly. Subsequent events resulted in the prolongation of the electoral process well beyond the deadline for the declaration of results. That prolongation was occasioned by a delay owing to legal challenges in the Supreme Court of Judicature and the Court of Appeal.
“The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) approached the Supreme Court on three separate occasions, obstructing the work of the Elections Commission. Those actions and the calls for recounts of ballots allowed for the Supreme Court to determine the way forward”.
Mr Granger completely failed to mention that one of his own candidates, Ulita Moore approached the High Court and then the Guyana Court of Appeal in failed bids to thwart the recount of votes.
Second, referring to a report on the recount that is to be compiled by the Chief Election Officer for submission to GECOM, Mr Granger said “Everyone is aware of numerous reports of irregularities including unstamped ballots, deceased and migrant voters and missing poll books. Those irregularities appear to have been committed intentionally, not accidentally, and demonstrate a pattern of manipulation of the electoral process”.
Mr Granger’s adoption of the most incredulous claims made by his party agents at the recount and elevation of these as appearing to bear the mark of an intentional pattern of manipulation is clearly the coup de grâce in trying to undermine the integrity of the March 2nd general elections.
His complete silence on the chicanery of District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo as attested to by the head of the OAS observer mission mission, Bruce Golding and the observer missions of CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the Carter Center, the European Union and local groups speaks eloquently to Mr Granger’s own role in defying the will of the people.
Since Mr Granger has stated that CARICOM is the most “legitimate interlocutor” on the Guyana elections it is instructive that the Head of the CARICOM observer mission, Cynthia Combie-Martyr in her preliminary report on March 4th declared that the polls were “free, fair and transparent” and she expected that the results of the poll would “reflect the free expression of the will and aspirations of the Guyanese people, for a government of their choice.”
Ms Combie-Martyr on March 6th also added her voice to the disquiet over Mr Mingo’s tabulation. Without naming him she said in a statement on behalf of the mission: “The CARICOM Election Observation Mission accepts that the tabulation process which commenced on Wednesday March 4, 2020 using the Statements of Poll and which was in accord with the legislative provisions of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1.03 Revised Edition of the Laws of Guyana, was interrupted and remains incomplete.
“Furthermore, it is evident that the transparent tabulation of results for Region 4 must be resumed under the independent control of the Returning Officer, as these scores are necessary and critical, in order to determine the outcome of the National Poll”.
It was Mr Mingo’s diabolical counting of District Four to fabricate votes for APNU+AFC that necessitated the recount which now brings us to the role of the GECOM Chair in this drama.
Ms Claudette Singh has made any number of decisions which seriously question her commitment to upholding the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana and to ensuring free and fair elections. These include her failure to have general elections held by September 18, 2019 or within a short extension of that date and her dereliction of duty in not stopping Mr Mingo’s vulgar “declarations” on two separate occasions.
With the recount of the ballot boxes now over, the spotlight is now on her. Mr Granger has on several occasions tossed the ball in her direction by stating that he will abide by the declaration/s of the GECOM Chair. The entire country now wants to hear what Ms Singh will say. In the estimation of all credible groups and persons who observed the elections on March 2nd there was a free and fair vote. The only serious breakdown occurred, as pointed out by the EU observation mission, at the level of the GECOM Secretariat with the District Four abomination.
Thirty-three days of painstaking recounts and observing of the process by hundreds of Guyanese have upheld the integrity of the vote of March 2nd and further exposed the iniquity of the District Four tabulation by Mr Mingo. The pitiable complaints of the APNU+AFC recount agents, some of which Ms Singh ill-advisedly forwarded to the Chief Immigration Officer are baseless and must be seen as a rearguard effort to overturn the will of the people.
With the tabulation of the recounted boxes almost concluded, Ms Singh must move speedily towards to the declaration of a result. As asserted by the OAS observer mission which has been present each of the 33 days, the recount provides a verifiable basis for the declaration of a result. Ms Singh in the coming days must ensure that she preserves the votes of the people on March 2nd and ensures that the declaration of the winner of the election reflects the will of the people.
