Chief Elections Officer presents report based on national vote recount, APNU+AFC commissioners call for fresh elections

Last Updated on Sunday, 2 August 2020, 14:46 by Denis Chabrol

The Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield on Sunday presented his report of the March 2, 2020 general ans regional elections based on the figures generated from the national vote recount.

“CEO submits report to Chairperson using results of the recount of ballots cast at the General and Regional Elections,” a GECOM spokeswoman said.

This move almost triggered the three pro-A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change to distance themselves from the declaration to be officially made by GECOM.

“We are therefore distancing ourselves from any Declaration other than a non-declaration and fresh elections,” commissioners Vincent Alexander, Robert Corbin and Desmond Trotman said.

Meanwhile about 100 APNU+AFC supporters chanted “Valid votes only” a short distance from GECOM’S headquarters.

Their statement follows:

We the Commissioners, whose presence on the Commission is occasioned by the APNU-AFC constitutional obligation to nominate three commissioners, have found it necessary, at this juncture, to issue this statement in relation to the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Ever since the passing of the No Confidence Motion in December 2018, we have been perplexed by the events in the elections` arena, however we have stayed the course as constitutional officers.

The Court`s decision to the effect that the Commission cannot compile a new Register of Registrants; the PPP/C`s and their Commissioners` strident call for and support of that decision; and the quashing of house-to-house registration, to which they had previously agreed, signaled what was to follow.

The events at the Ashmin`s building, the Office of the Registrar of District # 4, were the most grotesque and theatrical elections moments ever witnessed in the country`s history. They, non-the-less, lead to Order 60 of 2020, which has probably turned-out to be the most pilloried and misused legal instrument in the history of the country.

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 observation reports.

The Observation Reports exposed the skullduggery that characterized the elections and the motive of those who fought tooth and nail to ensure that the elections were conducted with a bloated list.

The report revealed the corroborated evidence of a corrupted electoral process. That the corruption was revealed before the elections were concluded; the compulsion of some to use the corrupted figures to declare a result; and the complicity of others clearly discredits the entire process. This is a new low in Guyana`s electoral history.

We advocated that, in the face of all the evidence made available to us and to the public while the election was still in progress, the Commission cannot make a declaration with any degree of confidence that it represents the will of the people. Notwithstanding the decisions of the Courts, we are still of the conviction that a non-declaration is the only way to guarantee fairness and impartiality as is provided for in the Constitution.

We feel that every vote should be counted and no invalid vote should be allowed to impact the results. Any other approach will lead to another political saga in our country`s short but turbulent political history. 

We are therefore distancing ourselves from any Declaration other than a non-declaration and fresh elections.

We further call on the President and the Leader of the Opposition to deliberate and agree on the Way Forward, just as they did in agreeing to the Recount as a means of “assuaging the contesting parties”, and maintaining the integrity, stability and tranquility of the Nation. 
Commissioners:
Vincent Alexander
Charles Corbin
Desmond Trotman