While declaring that the March 2nd election “has gone on long enough”, the Organization of American States (OAS) yesterday called for the process to be “brought to an end, based on the results of the national recount.”
“There is a fine line between the right to redress and the use of the courts to stall the electoral process,” the multilateral body declared in a clear criticism of the repeated resort to the judiciary from supporters of the incumbent APNU+AFC.
In a statement issued last evening the OAS stressed that the Commission already possesses a count of “valid votes” noting that it has accompanied the elections in Guyana through all of its stages, including the national recount.
“OAS observers were present for the determination and tabulation of the total valid votes cast in each Region – totals that were subsequently confirmed by the Chief Election Officer and submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM),” they said.
The body goes on to state that the General Secretariat expects that anyone who wishes to challenge the validity of any of these votes should do so through an election petition filed in the High Court, after GECOM declares the election result based on the recount data.
This data, which was certified by GECOM’s Secretariat, show that the PPP/C’s list of candidates has secured 233,336 votes compared to the 217,920 garnered by the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition. Under that count, the PPP/C has won the March 2 General Elections by 15,416 votes. Based on the figures, the PPP/C would have 33 seats in the new Parliament, the incumbent APNU+AFC, 31, and list of LJP, ANUG and TNM would share one seat.
In its statement the OAS committed to the strengthening of democracy in Guyana and expressed hope for a just and fair conclusion of the current process.
“Guyana’s 2020 elections have been reviewed repeatedly and extensively by both national and regional courts. While the OAS General Secretariat advocates for the right of all citizens to access electoral justice, there is a fine line between the right to redress and the use of the courts to stall the electoral process,” they concluded.
There have been three cases filed at various stages of the protracted elections process to stop a declaration of results. The most recent case was filed by Eslyn David and called on the Court of Appeal to interpret the provisions of the Article 177(2) (b) and declare that the Guyana Elections Commission failed to establish the credibility of in relation to Order 60 of 2020 which governed the recount.
By a majority decision the Court ruled that the words “more votes are cast” as per Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana should be interpreted to mean “more valid votes are cast” in keeping with the definition of valid votes as outlined in Order 60 of 2020 (Recount Order).
The main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has appealed the decision to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which issued an order stalling the process last evening.
