Ramjattan admits to staff that APNU+AFC lost elections, the PPP “has beaten us”

Last Updated on Saturday, 20 June 2020, 21:15 by Writer

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan has admitted to staff of the Ministry of Public Security that the coalition of his party and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU+AFC) lost the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections.

“It is with a little sadness…I rather suspect that tomorrow there will be a declaration that the numbers were against us,” he said on Tuesday. Ramjattan said he was “prepared to accept and to move on.”

Ramjattan said the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) “has beaten us by some 15,000 votes” based on the national vote recount. He cited the need for a “soft landing” because of a lot of tension in the public. “Some people believe that the loss of an election is death penalty. It is not a death penalty,” he said.

He said it means then that it is the end of the government, as he went on to tell staff that it was an honour to have served the Ministry of Public Security that was responsible for fire, police, community policing, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory, and the Police Complaints Authority.

Ironically, he later told reporters ahead of the Court of Appeal action by an APNU+AFC supporter that he felt that the coalition could win the elections on the basis of legal technicalities.

The recording of Ramjattan conceding that the coalition lost the elections coincided with AFC Executive Member, Dominic Gaskin urging APNU+AFC supporters to stop fooling its supporters instead of hanging on to power. Gaskin said the coalition should focus on winning back the confidence of the swing voters who can determine the outcome of an election.