The Private Sector Commission (PSC) says it is appalled by the report submitted to GECOM today by Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield saying that the recount of votes from the March 2nd general elections does not provide a credible or verifiable basis for a result.
The PSC says as an accredited elections observer it is “satisfied that both the election process and Count as well as the Recount were transparent, efficiently organized and diligently executed by the staff and management of GECOM”.
A Private Sector Commission Press Release follows:
The Private Sector Commission participated as Accredited Observers to the National Recount of General and Regional Elections 2020 which has now been concluded. Our representatives were present at every one of the counting stations on every day, as we were on Election Day.
The Private Sector Commission is satisfied that both the election process and Count as well as the Recount were transparent, efficiently organized and diligently executed by the staff and management of GECOM.
The Private Sector Commission is further satisfied that the Recount process produced an entirely credible tabulation of the results of the General and Regional Elections.
The Private Sector Commission is, therefore, appalled that the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM should submit a Report to the Chairman of the Elections Commission that from “the information furnished from the Recount, it cannot be ascertained that the results …meet the standard of fair and credible elections”.
It is the considered view of the Private Sector Commission that the Chief Elections Officer in his summation of anomalies listed in the Observer Reports, has acted outside of his authority under the law governing his responsibility to the Commission by submitting an opinion with regards to whether or not “the criteria of impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of the constitution and the ROPA” were satisfied or not satisfied.
The Private Sector Commission cannot avoid pointing out that the Chief Elections Officer, in his condemnation of the administration of the entire electoral process failing to “meet the standard of fair and credible elections” has sought to accuse all of the employees of GECOM and indeed himself and the Chairman of gross mismanagement and malfeasance of the electoral process or alternatively that they participated in a conspiracy to commit electoral fraud on a massive scale beyond reasonable belief.
It is the conclusion of the Private Sector Commission that the certified tabulated matrix produced from all 10 electoral districts from the Recount accurately reflects the total valid votes cast for the General and Regional Elections March 2nd, 2020.
The Private Sector Commission has further concluded from our observations based on SOPs published at places of Polls on elections day that no objections were noticed and agents from the contesting political parties, invariably including the two main parties signed confirming all of the SOPs on elections day indicating their satisfaction with the process and its outcome.
We draw to the Commission’s attention the provisions of Article 163 of the Constitution, the country’s supreme law, which provides that only the High Court has jurisdiction to inquire whether an election has been lawfully conducted or whether the result thereof has been, or may have been, affected by any act or omission. So called anomalies as identified by the Chief Elections Officer are beyond the remit of the High Court, let alone the Chief Elections Officer.
Accordingly, the Private Sector Commission calls upon GECOM to declare the results of the elections in accordance with Article 177 of the Constitution which deemed the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Progressive Party as the elected President.
