Welcoming yesterday’s decision by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, the Private Sector Commission today called on the GECOM Chair Claudette Singh to move towards the declaration of the result based on the recount of the votes and to the swearing in of the new President.
A statement from the Private Sector Commission follows:
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) welcomes the comprehensive and detailed decision and rulings of the Chief Justice (ag), particularly on the matter of the validity of the Recount and, most importantly, on the relationship between the Chief Election Officer and GECOM.
The Private Sector Commission notes that the Chief Justice (ag) has specifically ruled that GECOM must declare the result of the elections only from the data of the Recount and that “the view expressed that any irregularities would have to be addressed by an election petition”.
The Private Sector Commission has also noted that the Chief Justice (ag) has ruled that the Chief Election Officer is subject to the direction and control of the Commission in submitting his report to GECOM.
The Private Sector Commission, therefore, wishes to encourage the Chairman of GECOM to sanction no further delay in arriving at the declaration of the elections result from the Recount and to move with all due haste to the swearing in of the newly elected President of Guyana.
In this context, the Private Sector Commission takes this opportunity to reject, without reservation, the position of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Observer Team claiming “that the result of the March 2nd 2020 General and Regional Elections could not be credible”.
The Private Sector Commission finds it extraordinary and is extremely disappointed that the GPSU, presuming to speak for all Public Servants, would arrive at any decision other than to recognize, as every other Local and International Observer Mission has done, that the March 2nd elections were, in fact, conducted in a wholly credible manner and that alleged, undocumented and unproved irregularities listed in the Observer Reports of the Recount, as the Chief Justice (ag) has ruled, are matters for an Election Petition.
