APNU’s claims of rigged elections turning off PPP from power-sharing – Jagdeo

Last Updated on Saturday, 23 May 2020, 15:16 by Denis Chabrol

The General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party  (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday cited A Partnership for National Unity’s criticisms of the credibility of the March 2 general elections to frown on the idea of power-sharing.

His remarks came one day after Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton for the first time  released figures to buttress its claims of fraud and rigging. “This Aubrey Norton, he talks about joint government and you think anybody would want to sit in the same government with some of these guys who are making such patently false allegations and put the country in turmoil,” Jagdeo said.

The Opposition Leader chided the incumbent coalition for refusing to concede defeat based on the trends in the recount including proof of inflated results in Region Four. “There is no gracefulness in this group  no acceptance that they have lost the elections. They want to stir trouble to secure a place in a future government and they must be misreading the People’s Progressive Party by now. We can’t be bullied,” Jagdeo added.

The former President suggested that if the coalition had not behaved undemocratic over the past several months and “be graceful in defeat”, that “could set up a way for collaboration in the future.”

Norton claimed that APNU+Alliance For Change might have been cheated of just over 1,500 votes through several methods. On the question of whether those were sufficient so far to change the outcome of the elections in Regions One and Two, Norton said the issue of credibility is one for the Elections Commission to decide.

The PPP  General Secretary’s remarks on power sharing differ from the non-committal position of his Party’s presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali.  Ali this week dodged questions on whether he supports Executive Power Sharing.

Jagdeo, himself, has not been clear in recent times on executive power-sharing, though he has said there must be a role for Norton’s Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR).

President David Granger reportedly recently suggested that his APNU+AFC coalition did not win a landslide and that about half of the population could not be left out of the governance of Guyana.

Back in the early to mid-2000s, Norton and then Executive Member James Mc Allister had been among a group that had crafted a position paper on shared governance for the PNCR.

But Jagdeo, as President, had cited the need to first build trust among the parties.

Since coming to power in 2015 by a one-seat majority in the 65-seat National Assembly, Granger had held out the coalition as the flagship grouping that any other party should join.