1st June – 5th June Quotes

1

“Your recalcitrance and useless gamesmanship have betrayed the sacred trust the people of Guyana once placed in you. And whatever smidgen of decency, dignity and decorum is left in you, I urge you to turn a deaf ear to the clanging cymbals of hollow voices coming from your advisers and listen to the still, small voice within you that says to you, “Follow the way of righteousness and do the right thing.”

DANIEL K. GIBRAN

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2

“They [Commonwealth technical experts] were there on the day itself and ensured that they were rendering assistance to GECOM. I must also say that all the groups that we met with in advancement of elections day expressed the fullest confidence in the elections as well.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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3

“For David Granger to callously and illegally cling on to the Presidency while Guyana is falling into the abyss is indecent, dishonest and criminal. But even with the desperate economic times, APNU+AFC is raping the resources of the country. The latest information is that assets of the State, such as State lands, are being willy-nilly distributed to their sycophants, family and friends.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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4

“Lowenfield thinks that his outlandish findings that 56 out of every 100 votes have been tainted by impersonation are more credible than the outstanding work on Elections Day by all the GECOM officials, APNU+AFC officials, party officials and domestic and international observers. According to Lowenfield, APNU+AFC has 125,000 untainted votes while the PPP/C has 56,000 votes! In a mathematical act of insanity, Lowenfield is disenfranchising about six out of every ten voters.”

CHRISTOPHER RAM 

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5

“The Government has basically overspent $100 billion, which resulted in the domestic debt skyrocketing and has led to a large fiscal deficit,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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6

“In this context of an administration being voted out and a new administration coming in, permanent secretaries, heads of budget agencies, people who are appointed as a result of the “Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA), need to take notice that you have to act in a certain way because you are awaiting a new political directorate who will set new priorities, who will have a specific agenda, and will give new policy direction. And to act contrary to that, will have serious consequences, and that’s the reality. Whoever are involved in that and whoever are beneficiaries of such skulduggery, you gonna have sleepless nights starting tonight, because you are hearing from the PPP/C by way of this programme. Don’t believe that you are going to walk away and smile and say you have a legal contract. You know fully well you should not have been going in that direction and you will have to face the consequence,”

JUAN EDGHILL

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7

“I don’t think Ralph Gonsalves should feel in any way, first of all, intimidated or having to cower, because that seems to be the intention.

“There is a Charter of Civil Society under which Guyana has signed to bind itself to free and fair elections and Gonsalves is calling for Guyana to respect that Charter of Civil Society that holds us together as a community.

OWEN ARTHUR

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8

“Mr. Lowenfield knows that his stats cannot be proven hence his conclusion. He has no authority or capacity to outright discredit an election and more so one based on allegations. He has no right to be a judge, neither jury, neither executioner on these matters. Mr. Lowenfield has acted out of bounds of the gazetted recount order and the laws that govern GECOM.”

DR JOSH KANHAI

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9

“We wish to remind the Commission that there appears to be an arm within its executing body endowed with authority to act either without instructions from the Commission, or against its overall objectives,”

KIAN JABOUR

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10

“The United States continues to stand for democratic values elsewhere in the hemisphere too. We look forward to a quick and credible conclusion to the vote recount in Guyana”,

MIKE POMPEO

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11

“It has already been established now that the PPP’s list has the most votes and, therefore, Irfaan Ali is already deemed the President of Guyana. It’s awaiting that section of the Constitution,  which says that the Chair of GECOM shall now declare him …so as far as we are concerned, all of the shenanigans  to prevent the declaration, it is not going  to work because that is the Supreme Law of the country,”

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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12

“There have been many threats, many statements on social media and the commissioner has assured us that they are actively monitoring the situation, they are gathering intelligence, they are securing information to deal with any such threats if it arises,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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13

“We expect the CARICOM observer mission to deliver its report and we expect that what is the recount would be honoured and the Guyana Elections Commission would honour that recount and declare the winner in accordance with this recount and anybody who wants to challenge anything afterwards can go to court but you have to declare the winner in accordance with the recount,”

RALPH GONSALVES

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14

“So, if there is all this evidence of fraud…you need to come with some kind of rigorous evidence. In all the instances I’ve come across of electoral rigging, it’s usually done by the persons who are in office. If you’re out of office and you can rig an election, that is a genius,”

PETER WICKHAM

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15

“GECOM is a statutory body and must oblige with the laws given to them. GECOM can only do what the law says. GECOM can apply the law. GECOM can’t decide what’s in the best interest and GECOM can’t say it won’t declare a winner because they know who the winner is,”

SANJEEV DATADIN

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16

“The recount, however, is finished; it was needless and it was expensive. There are better ways to use $1B; a caring Government, a decent and honest President, would know that.
The swearing in of President Ali is no longer about the winner deserving to be sworn in immediately. This is about the desperate need for an effective Government now. There is an urgent need for a Government to take control and stop Guyana from reeling into economic calamity.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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17

“Obviously, this evidence was not available at the time when the contempt proceedings were filed [on March 12]. Subsequently, the National Recount exercise commenced and was concluded on June 9, 2020. This exercise produced volumes of evidence establishing Mingo’s contemptuous conduct. Again, most naturally, this evidence was not available at the time when the contempt proceedings were filed,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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18

“I am beginning to wonder now, how is this is being allowed for Joe Harmon at his level to be attacking Caribbean leaders when Guyana still sees itself and its leader in good standing with the Caribbean?

OWEN ARTHUR

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19

“Both the SOPs and the RoPs unmistakably show that the PPP/C won the 2020 General Election. You have no choice, Mr. President, but to accept that reality and graciously concede. It is time for our country to move on. Do not become an obstacle; the people will not forgive you. Return to the old way and be the man we once knew.”

DANIEL K. GIBRAN

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20

“Already, Guyana has been set back for decades. It was only in December last that there was euphoria that OIL finally is part of Guyana’s economy. Yet, six months later, Guyana’s economy is stagnant and Guyana’s financial and macro-economic status is one of bankruptcy.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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21

“What is happening right now is quite frankly holding up Guyana improperly so too and is being made an international laughing stock.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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22

“GECOM doesn’t have any authority to not declare a winner or the President of the list that won the most votes. They are bound to declare on the basis of the certified results. GECOM doesn’t have authority to void or annul an election or call for fresh elections,”

DR BHARRAT JAGDEO

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23

“You would recall that in 2015 there were police officers stationed at every ministry and department whilst the transition was taking place. So we raised this with the Commissioner….we have asked him to ensure that he look at this and to ensure that systems are in place to secure state assets and documents,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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24

“In this matter, Mr Joe Harmon is a mere utensil and he is out of order to be speaking to Caribbean leaders in the way in which he is.” “And if he is speaking with the support of the President of Guyana, who would himself want to sit in Council with other leaders, it would be good for the President of Guyana to tell Mr Harmon that that is not his responsibility.

OWEN ARTHUR

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25

“You would do well to heed the immortal words of the prophet Daniel to the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, “You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting.” Belshazzar’s night of revelry and debauchery came to a swift end. For the past three months, you and your advisers have followed the example of Belshazzar, who exhibited a wanton disregard for that which was sacred.”

DANIEL K. GIBRAN

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