After months of wrangling over the results of the recount of votes from March 2nd and a slew of court cases, GECOM Chair Claudette Singh yesterday declared the PPP/C to be the winner of the controversy-ridden polls in the absence of the three government-appointed commissioners who had left in protest.
Singh’s surprise declaration after months of delays came after an 11 am meeting was adjourned to 2pm to allow last-ditch dialogue between President David Granger and PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo “on the way forward”. This initiative was at the request of the government-appointed commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman. However, Jagdeo declined talks.
When the meeting reconvened, Singh moved swiftly to declare Ali the new President after receiving the recount result from Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield who had refused three times previously to deliver. Singh then made the declaration and initiated arrangements for the swearing in.
The government-appointed commissioners remain wedded to the view that the results of the national recount scrutinized by CARICOM observers remain “undoubtedly corrupt.” They have however provided no convincing evidence of this to the public and no international observer group has agreed with their findings.
The trio made their position known moments after walking out of the meeting at which Ali was declared President.
“It is unjust for us to take a decision on this matter knowing that these results are corrupted and fraudulent therefore not withstanding all of the pronouncement from the courts and everyone else. We are distancing ourselves from the declarations which this meeting made today,” Alexander said after exiting GECOM’s headquarters at High and Cowan streets.
Lowenfield, acting on the directive by Singh, presented a report using the results from the national recount. Those results showed a win for the PPP/C by 15,416 votes.
Lowenfield in his report dated July 31 showed the PPP/C receiving 33 parliamentary seats, the APNU/AFC garnering 31 seats and the joinder parties (LJP, ANUG and TNM) 1 seat.
Notably, the CEO informed Singh that the tabulated votes do not “reflect the true will of the electors.”
In a joint statement the APNU/AFC commissioners said “The recount culminated the kernel of the electoral process but was made a mockery, since its results are being partially disregarded with the tabulations being the only aspect referenced in what the Order intended to be credible results based on the tabulations and the observations report.”
They argued further that the observation reports that were generated from the almost six weeks recount process exposed “skullduggery that characterised the elections and the motive of those who fought tooth and nail to ensure that the elections were conducted with a bloated list.”
“No one in this country has attempted in any way to question the fact that impersonation has been perpetrated during the elections, that dead people voted, that people who did not have the relevant documents for employment or affidavit voted…” Alexander stressed.
The commissioners in their joint statement said that they believe the commission should have adopted a “non-declaration” as in their view, it is the only way fairness and impartiality as provided for in the constitution can be guaranteed.
Way forward
Just around noon, the meeting was adjourned after the coalition appointed GECOM commissioners suggested that President Granger and Jagdeo meet on “the way forward” as the recount tabulation was “not acceptable”.
The proposal for the meeting was forwarded by Corbin and he told reporters that the GECOM Chair acceded to the request for the meeting.
Corbin said that the motivator for the recount was an agreement between Granger and Jagdeo. He added that based on the “evidence” thrown up in the recount the use of the recount result could generate “a lot of ripples in the society”, notwithstanding that GECOM could make a decision on its own.
He said that what was proposed was that there be an engagement among the leaders in the same way to determine the way forward.
Corbin said that the Chair agreed to the suggestion after “some exchanges” and then spoke to both leaders.
However, Jagdeo, General Secretary of the PPP and who, will now serve as Vice President in Ali’s government indicated that he would only engage with Granger after a declaration was made.
Subsequently, Granger in a statement signaled that he was ready to concede after stating that his party would file an elections petition.
The coalition leader recognised that “the Commission has a legal obligation as a result of the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal, to proceed with a declaration.”
On that note, Granger in his statement said the APNU+ AFC coalition maintains that the anomalies and irregularities which have been uncovered during the recount process cannot be accepted and will form the grounds for an election petition.
Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj told reporters that the coalition commissioners tried to litigate matters that would have been dealt with in the past when the meeting was convened yesterday morning.
He said it was during those discussions that the suggestion was placed on the table for the leaders of both sides to meet and discuss a possible way forward.
The meeting reconvened at 2pm and at that point Lowenfield presented his report to the commission.
According to Gunraj, he objected to claims of voters impersonation made by Lowenfield in his report to the commission prior to the declaration of the results.
Reflecting on the conclusion of the painstaking election process, Gunraj said the entire saga could have been avoided. He noted too that there has been severe dereliction of duty by staff members of the commission but those matters will have to be addressed at a later date.
