An international team will be named by Tuesday to form the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to probe the attempts to rig the March 2nd 2020 regional and general elections, President Irfaan Ali announced yesterday.
Approaching two years since he promised the enquiry in his inauguration address, the President made the disclosure while speaking at the remembrance rally for the Enmore Martyrs.
Last week, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh ruled against a proposal by opposition-nominated commissioner Vincent Alexander for an internal probe of the elections.
Ali in his address posited that one simply cannot review matters pertaining to their own house.
“We, and particularly your President, promised an international CoI, so I say to all those who struggled and sacrificed, all those who worked in protecting the democracy, that we have, in your honour, before dawn on next Tues-day, your President will name the members of that international CoI,” he stated.
Ali stated that the CoI will put many assumptions to rest and present the truth to the people of Guyana.
“Those who subverted democracy, those who cannot present their SOPs (Statements of Poll), and those who struggled against the will of the people, the CoI will set the truth free from the untruth and the CoI will set those who dwell in the house of democracy and those who dwell in the fire of undemocratic rule and norms,” Ali continued.
He added that the CoI will be done in honour of not only the Enmore Martyrs, who took a stand against horrific social conditions 74 years ago but every Guyanese who fought for freedom and democracy.
“In honour…(of) who fought relentlessly in those five months to ensure our country never ever was allowed to go down as an undemocratic nation. In honour of your sacrifices, I committed that we will have an international CoI into the last elections,” Ali underscored.
Five months after the March 2nd 2020 polls and after a series of legal battles, Ali was finally declared the winner of the presidential elections and subsequently sworn in as the country’s ninth executive president, on August 2, 2020.
The announcement came after Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield submitted the results of the March 2nd general elections using the numbers of a national recount, which had been necessitated by attempts to manipulate the count for District Four in favour of the former APNU+AFC coalition.
Ali had stated that there were “vigorous attempts” made during those five months to destroy the democratic credentials of the country and to deny the will of the electorate.
He had also committed his government to pursuing the necessary reforms so as to strengthen democracy and make the electoral process more transparent.
“All of us have an obligation to the nation and to ourselves to ensure that never again should any generation of our people be subjected to such unlawful behaviour,” Ali had stated.
District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was accused of twice presenting falsified figures – on March 5th and March 13th – and the major observer groups had found his tabulation not to be credible.
GECOM subsequently executed a painstaking recount with international observers which showed that the PPP/C had won the majority of votes.
Mingo, Lowenfield and APNU+AFC agent Volda Lawrence have since faced criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit fraud, for their alleged roles in the attempted manipulation of the results. The charges faced by Mingo and Lowenfield include alleged misconduct in public office.
Sheffern February, a clerk employed by GECOM, was charged with two counts of attempting to defraud the people of Guyana, while Enrique Livan, an Information Technology officer attached to GECOM, was also taken before court on a charge of manipulating the numbers of the statements of poll that were recorded in the system so that they reflected fraudulent numbers for District Four.
