15th April – 25th April Quotes

“In having prepared for the process and bringing in observers, we watched the elections and they went smoothly. We were happy with the polling and it was unfortunate that things started to unravel at the tabulation process,”

KATHERINE DUEHOLM

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“You’ve seen some of the statements coming out of Washington. Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo. Assistant Secretary (Michael) Kozak. The National Security Council. They have been very strong. And Secretary Pompeo did point to serious consequences if the democratic process, the rule of law, and the principles of democracy are not followed in Guyana.
“So, sanctions are a set of tools in the toolkit that potentially can be explored. Decisions on sanctions – first of all, they range from issues of visa restrictions to issues of financial measures. So, it’s a range of things that can be discussed and looked into. And those decisions are made at the highest levels of the Government in Washington, with the inter-agency fully concurring.” SARAH-ANN LYNCH

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“Golding was chosen by a prestigious organization like the OAS. They chose Mr. Golding because of his standing and his integrity. Golding said what he observed – that he headed an observation team that was in Ashmins (Building) when fraud was perpetuated,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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“The Commission can establish as many work stations as it wants”

“this is an APNU-inspired delay of the process because they just want to drag this out longer so they can hang on to power, hoping that by some miracle, something would happen which would alter the results coming out of the [Arthur Chung Conference Centre]”.

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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“We are signatories to many agreements; we are signatories to international standards as (they relate) to democratic norms, good governance; we are part of the global community; we are part of the OAS (Organisation of American States); we are part of the UN (United Nations), and we have a responsibility to ensure that we do not deny these agencies to be part of the democratic framework of this country. It is critical at this time because of what took place in District Number Four (Demerara–Mahaica),”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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“When the original statement was done and Mr. (Clairmont) Mingo read his report, APNU said ‘we won these elections and we are satisfied with how the count of these ballots was done. Here we are counting the same ballots; we are not counting different ballots, we are not counting different pieces of paper…The same ballots that we are now counting that APNU was happy to accept a victory when Mr. Mingo counted them but now we are all in there counting them independently and transparently, APNU doesn’t want to see the results of that count,” said Jonas. “APNU are now introducing questions with how many pieces of paper are in the box,”

TIMOTHY JONAS

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“Nascimento was an observer at the March 2 elections and witnessed first-hand how Mingo and Volda Lawrence put their signatures to a fraudulent document which Keith Lowenfield accepted and elevated and to which David Granger, Vincent Alexander and Joseph Harmon, all men of integrity, honesty and decency, shut their ears, eyes and mouths and I suppose, their conscience. Instead, this group wants Granger to be declared by Claudette Singh as President on a fraud.”

CHRISTOPHER RAM

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“You can’t want to commit election thievery in the public’s eye and when the public speaks about their observations you are offended,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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“I second his call for a free, fair, transparent and credible vote recount process, leading to an outcome that reflects the will of the Guyanese people.”

MICHAEL KOZAK

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“So now that just yesterday, they agreed to 100 persons coming in, flying in to Guyana, he [the President] would have a very difficult time now justifying why they can’t allow four international observers who are prepared to take the test [COVID-19] and follow the same protocols like CARICOM did and the same protocol that those who are coming home will follow, so he is going to be in a serious bind now to explain this,”

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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“The criteria used for the return of Guyanese are criteria that can also be used for the return of the international observers. I am of the strong view that, with the strong public health criteria, there is no rationale and there is no reason to deny international observers the right to be here. I say ‘the right’ because we are a part of a global community; we are part of an international community, and we don’t operate in a vacuum and we don’t operate in isolation of what is taking place in the rest of the world,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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“We urge the Government to respect the wishes of the voters, as peacefully expressed in the March 2 election.”

“We urge the Government to respect the wishes of the voters, as peacefully expressed in the March 2 election.”
According to the US diplomat, “any recount should be conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner.”

MIKE POMPEO

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“We all know that elections day was a good day of voting, and we are all witnessing that the recount is so far a good exercise. Need I say more?”

FERNANDO PONZ CANTO

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“Like many of us who have lived through or migrated from Guyana to escape the terrifying years of Burnham, Rabbi Washington and the House of Israel, the unbroken sequence of rigged elections, a destroyed economy, food shortages and incompetence on a grand scale, Nascimento is clearly determined that his vote must be counted and fears the return to those dark days.”

CHRISTOPHER RAM

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“We went to elections in 2015, GECOM said we lost, we disagreed with the results but we left the Government, we behaved like civilised human beings, not like barbarians, we obeyed the rule of law, we obeyed the Constitution of the country and we left the seat of Government in a peaceful way”. “look at what these pack of riggers are doing to Guyana.”

ANIL NANDLALL

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“If there was any sitting president of a country who should have had every reason to rig an election, that president was Desi Bouterse who, in 2019, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with an appeal still pending. In addition, he is also wanted in The Netherlands after being convicted in 1999, in his absence, for trafficking in cocaine. He knew that once he ceased to be president, the law enforcement agencies would pursue him.”

SIR RONALD SANDERS

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As for these so-called anomalies every day being claimed at the recount stations by APNU+AFC party agents, these amount to minor infractions that have no bearing on the overwhelming result of an election process which all of the international observers found credible, and to which Granger himself originally gave his blessings.

KIT NASCIMENTO

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“And when I say results, let me be very clear: I mean the counting of the votes, the quantitative counting of the votes, which in my humble understanding is the objective of any recount exercise.”

FERNANDO PONZ CANTO

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“We find it difficult to accept that a political party would want to issue ultimatum” to a constitutional body that enjoys independence of political control from the executive,”

MARK PHILLIPS

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“It is time, as I have said before, for David Granger to do the honourable thing: accept that he has lost the elections and concede before he is ultimately forced to do so by the international condemnation which will come his way and to our country if he doesn’t.”

KIT NASCIMENTO

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“Therefore, CARICOM’s credibility is now tied to maintaining democracy and the rule of law in Guyana, and to act if those principles are crushed.
Guyana’s leaders of every political party, every race, and every religion now bear a great responsibility to their country and their people.”

“They should seize this opportunity to show that Guyana is a democracy, and, within that democracy, they can fashion representative governance for all.”

SIR RONALD SANDERS

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“Here it is Ming is being active and is being recruited, and that’s why I’m disappointed in Stanley; he’s being recruited by the PNCR to lend his image as an independent businessman to this notion, this plot by the APNU/AFC to overturn the results of the March 2, 2020 elections. It is left to be seen whether the consequences of the evil but unfoldingly clumsy attempt on this occasion will be any less dire,”

CHRISTOPHER RAM

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“The recount was decided and agreed upon by the top leaders of the Government and the Opposition, and I trust that they will do everything in their hand to make sure that the recount results are respected,”

FERNANDO PONZ CANTO

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“If you go into the exercise, you will see that every single ballot paper is projected on an instrument and there is a security mark that is shown to authenticate the veracity and authenticity of that ballot paper and every ballot is subject to this exercise and not in a single case has anyone so far detected a false or fraudulent ballot, ballot paper being used,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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“We look to President Granger and Opposition Leader Jagdeo to honor their commitments to respect legitimate recount results. The U.S. will support those leaders and institutions that adhere to Guyana’s democratic principles and ensure the voice and will of the people is heard”.