Former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin has renewed an appeal to members of the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition to accept that they have lost the March 2nd general and regional elections, while saying that legal manoeuvring is only serving to delay their defeat and raise tensions, while worsening the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
In a Facebook post on Friday evening, Gaskin, who is a member of the AFC and the son-in-law of incumbent president David Granger, also said that the actions of APNU+AFC over the last four months will negatively affect future generations of Afro-Guyanese political leaders who may want to serve through the two parties.
“Fancy legal maneuvers cannot change the facts. They only serve to delay the inevitable and raise tensions among our people, while exacerbating the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gaskin wrote in his latest exhortation to the coalition.
Referring to himself as the proud son of a black man, Gaskin highlighted the fact that the country’s two main political parties rely heavily on the Indo- and Afro-Guyanese populations for their electoral votes and noted that the future of Afro-Guyanese political leadership is in jeopardy.
“I find it regrettable that the younger generation of Afro-Guyanese politicians, should they choose to further their political careers within APNU or the AFC, will be saddled with the consequences of what has taken place over the last four months…It is my sincere belief that those in the APNU+AFC camp will pay the heaviest price for what has occurred. While I hope that this does not happen, I cannot ignore the PNC’s prolonged stint in opposition post-1992,” he lamented.
For much of the post, the former minister took aim at the incumbent’s attempt to have the elections declared based on the March 13 declarations, which include the discredited numbers furnished by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
Gaskin stressed that the transparent recount process provides an accurate reflection of what is in the ballot boxes.
He further noted that the recount numbers also show a glaring discrepancy between the votes in the Region Four boxes and the votes added up and declared by Mingo.
Mingo’s clumsy attempt to fraudulently alter the results in favour of the incumbent coalition are what led to the recount in the first place, Gaskin reminded.
“No amount of shifting narratives, specious arguments, contrived reports or court rulings can change the contents of those 2,341 ballot boxes, in which the net will of the people of this country is expressed….You are losing political ground. You cannot win this battle. Find a way out today. It will be easier than trying to do so tomorrow,” he said.
He also urged the coalition to publicly state whether it believes Mingo’s numbers are accurate or inaccurate.
“It is the failure of the incumbent to acknowledge Mingo’s unscrupulous act that has us where we are today. The unfortunate truth is that the only ones fooled by Mingo were his intended beneficiaries,” he stressed, while adding that if the incumbent believes that Mingo’s numbers were accurate, then they need to explain clearly to their supporters why the recount of the same ballots produced such a vastly different result, and why, up to now, neither they nor GECOM can provide a breakdown of the Region Four results, or copies of the corresponding Statements of Poll.
Conversely, he adds, if the coalition accepts that Mingo’s numbers were not accurate, then it needs to justify why it is seeking a final declaration based on those numbers.
“If it appears that the entire world is lined up against the APNU+AFC coalition, it is because the entire world, except the coalition and its supporters, knows that Mr. Mingo’s numbers were not the right numbers. The coalition leadership needs to be honest with its supporters about the Mingo declaration,” he stressed.
One month ago on June 19, Gaskin, in a similar post, said that the APNU+AFC coalition was deliberately fooling its supporters with grossly exaggerated claims of electoral fraud.
He stressed that there was no reasonable basis on which the coalition could claim to have won more votes than the opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic in the polls.
“Level with your supporters and start directing your energies towards becoming a credible opposition party in time for 2025. Above all, try to regain the trust of the swing voter. You will never win another election without their support,” he urged.
A similar appeal was made in March when he rejected the controversial vote count that was initially declared by Mingo in favour of APNU+AFC, while saying that there needed to be a full investigation to determine if there was wrongdoing by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials in connection with the integrity of Statements of Poll (SOPs) or the tabulation of results from the March 2 elections.
Gaskin on Friday said he empathised with many who do not wish to see the PPP/C return to power but added that the harm which would ensue from a PPP/C government can never justify “what is contemplated.”
“Our political system may not be perfect, but trust in our electoral system is paramount. The votes in those ballot boxes, all of which have already been deemed legally valid, show that the majority of Guyanese prefer a PPP-C government to an APNU+AFC government. This is what the coalition should be working to change in time for the 2025 election, instead of trying to change what has already happened,” he explained before concluding with an appeal for the party to stop attacking detractors.
“For God’s sake stop abusing everyone who dares to suggest that you lost the election. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise,” he stressed.
