As the 2020 Elections drag on, de facto President David Granger appears to be slowly shifting the goalpost of what exactly it would take for him to concede.
Yesterday, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency declared that Granger “would abide by any declaration that the Chairman [of the Elections Commission] makes in keeping with the laws of Guyana.”
While the position at first reading is similar to the position Granger has held since March it is not same.
On May 18, Granger told reporters that he would accept any declaration from the Commission.
“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 said at a press briefing following a visit to the site of the recount at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
More recently on June 6, Granger again stated that he respected the integrity and autonomous nature of the Elections Commission.
“I will abide by the declarations of the Elections Commission as I have abided by the rulings of the Court,” he stressed.
This newest caveat of “in keeping with the laws of Guyana” has been added on the same day that another legal challenge has been filed to block a declaration from the Commission.
This challenge filed on behalf of Misenga Jones is attempting to have the High Court compel the Commission to declare the APNU+AFC winners of the General and Regional Elections based on a report submitted by Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield.
The report which includes the discredited, March 13 declarations from District Four returning officer Clairmont Mingo was rejected by the Commission on Monday.
Following the decision to reject the report, the Commission also ‘set aside’ all 10 declarations which were published on March 13 and directed Lowenfield to submit a report using the result of the National Recount. Those results show a victory for the opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Lowenfield has consistently refused to submit to the Commission these results. He has attempted to argue among other things that Section 96(1) of the Representation of the People Act directs that the information used to compile the CEO reports must originate from statutory officers namely the Returning Officers and before them Presiding Officers.
The Tabulation Certificates generated following the recount were not signed by these officers. They however were generated via a process outlined in the Recount Order; Order 60 of 2020. This Order enacted via Article 162 and Section 22 of the Elections Amendment Act has substituted the RO declarations for the Certificates.
Despite this the CEO has refused to comply with the Commission request maintaining that his report was compiled in accordance with his “statutory and constitutional duties and all applicable laws.”
He had made this same claim about a report submitted on June 16 in which he discarded in excess of 115,000 votes. That report was declared by the Caribbean Court of Justice last Wednesday to be invalid.
