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20th June – 25th June Quotes

20th June – 25th June Quotes

1

gaskin“We live in an imperfect world and no electoral system, especially not one that relies on manual voting and counting, is foolproof or devoid of irregularities. The nation put its faith in the CARICOM observer team, and held its breath for the duration of the recount, while being treated to a daily menu of “Breaking News” of more and more discoveries of “Massive Fraud” and “Systemic Rigging”.

DOMINIC GASKIN

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2

sharma“Coming from a humble background from Enmore on the ECD, where my father was a well-respected pandit and my mother a simple homemaker, it was instilled in my upbringing to give help and treat my neighbours equally, regardless of race.”

CHANDRANARINE SHARMA

SAVITREE SINGH SHARMA

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3

irfaan“We have to be careful how we manage relationships. The future has a lot of opportunities in Guyana not only for Guyana and Guyanese. These opportunities will be there for all of Caricom, including Trinidad and Tobago. What we want to see is a better relationship in terms of how the Private Sector in Trinidad and the Private Sector in Guyana collaborate.”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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4

hess“It is our expectation that we will get [it] sometime later this week. The fact that the CARICOM weighed in yesterday, that was overseeing the elections, and said the vote count is legitimate and should be honoured. Also, (US) Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo and other western governments have weighed in as well that the voice of the Guyanese people should be heard,”

JOHN HESS

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5

gaskin“The recount went ahead and the results showed clearly that Mingo’s numbers could not have been based on actual Statements Of Poll. At the very least APNU+AFC’s supporters deserve an explanation from its leadership as to the basis on which they claimed to have won the election prior to the recount.”

DOMINIC GASKIN

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6

sharma“With many jobs in my youth – from selling oranges, tailoring and later a mechanic and refrigerator technician, one thing was always certain in my understanding of life; my desire and need to help people.”

“Always a risk taker and fearless to stand up for my beliefs.”

CHANDRANARINE SHARMA

SAVITREE SINGH SHARMA

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7

irfaan“While Trinidad is ahead on oil and gas and have the capacity and capability, we have to turn to you in the short term of course…What I think is that we need to establish a model relationship, where Trinidad work with local sector to develop that capacity. But we have to realise there is also a historical context to things. You have many Guyanese, over the years, [who] would have complained about how difficult it is and still is to get agricultural produce from Guyana into Trinidad. These are things we have to fix,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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8

hess“We are cautiously optimistic that this time we will get a new government named.  We can work with either party. They need us and we need them.  Both parties have given us the assurance that the production sharing contract is going to be honoured but we are just ready to get back to work,”

JOHN HESS

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9

anil“You can give them the most perfect constitution. If they lose the election or a vote in confidence, they simply do not want to play by the rule of the game and that is a difficulty. Civilisation is based upon the rule of law.”

ANIL NANDLALL

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10

gaskin“I was not particularly concerned when I heard the first reports of a “spreadsheet” being used by Mr. Mingo. However, when I heard the actual numbers that he finally declared, I became deeply suspicious. There was no way his numbers could have been correct. Much to my disappointment, the leaderships of both APNU and the AFC claimed that Mingo’s numbers were consistent with our own Statements Of Poll. They also insisted that a final declaration be made on the basis of those numbers, and supported the court action to prevent a recount.”

DOMINIC GASKIN

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11

anil“The people of Guyana will drive that process. We, of course, in Government will create the mechanism and lay the foundation for the constitutional reforms to take place, but we are not going to choose a constitutional model and impose it on our people.”

ANIL NANDLALL

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12

sharma“The last 30 years have by far been my most interesting years. I created my local television show “Justice for All “which appealed to Guyanese from Every walk of Life. This outlet gave me a chance to really make a difference, to represent the many unheard voices in Guyana. The struggles of all ethnicities in Guyana were highlighted and in most cases many received the necessary attention to have positive feedback.”

CHANDRANARINE SHARMA

SAVITREE SINGH SHARMA

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13

tara-singh“To be dethroned from an apparent impregnable position that is fortified by imperial-like power seems to ravish the incumbents’ psyche to such an extent that they (PNCR) were compelled to stage a valiant scheme to rig the Region 4 tabulation figures to steal victory from the PPP/C. They failed in that effort, but still persisted with another sinister move (Lowenfield insurgency) to snatch victory from the PPP/C.”

DR TARA SINGH

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14

ramphal“President Granger emphatically said that “CARICOM was the most legitimate interlocutor” in the Guyana electoral crisis. And he was right. So it is. As long ago as 2001, CARICOM Heads of Government (including Guyana’s) “stressing that the Region had a long-standing tradition of respect for the will of the people expressed through free and fair elections on a regular basis”… “pledged to work together to maintain and strengthen the institution and processes essential to democratic Government”.

SHRIDATH RAMPHAL

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15

gaskin“Having paid close attention to the tabulated results of the 2020 elections, and having done some projections of my own, I knew by Wednesday, March 4th that a coalition victory, while still possible, was unlikely. I was aware that we had lost the East Coast Demerara sub-district by several thousand votes and the East Bank Demerara sub-district by close to one thousand votes.

At the time, the Returning Officer for District Four, Mr. Clairmont Mingo, had completed the tabulations for the Georgetown area, showing the Coalition ahead in District Four by nearly forty thousand votes. This was clearly not enough to close the more than fifty thousand vote lead that the PPP-C had gained in the other nine electoral districts, which had already been tabulated.”

DOMINIC GASKIN

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16

sharma“20 years ago Turning to the world of Guyana politics was unavoidable. Voices were being highlighted but action was necessary!”

“A little party- with a big voice, I pushed ahead to make a difference in our society, in my country Guyana. I faced many ups and downs along the way. Many a times I was ridiculed and humiliated. I was threatened and dragged through the courts. But my will, my patriotism and my love for country never once wavered!”

CHANDRANARINE SHARMA

SAVITREE SINGH SHARMA

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17

tara-singh“That other mission was carried out by Gecom CEO Keith Lowenfield, who arrogated to himself the role of, Judge, jury and executioner by trying single-handedly to discredit the elections (of which he was in charge) as well as to discredit the findings of the high level Caricom team.
The conspirators’ motive was to annul the 2020 elections and so deprive the PPP/C of its victory. But that plot was foiled by the GECOM Chair, who rightly claims that GECOM has no authority to annul the elections, and that irregularities must be resolved by the High Court through a petition.”

DR TARA SINGH

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18

anil“He will get a rude awakening because this stunt, this stunt will not succeed. It will not succeed. The Elections Commission has a duty to disregard every irrelevant material that Lowenfield has placed before it,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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19

irfaan“I’m not nervous…I’m ready! Our team is ready! And we’re ready to move forward with a broadened approach, a widened approach, a collective approach in building this country,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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20

gaskin2“Unlike the PPP-C and the PNC, the AFC does not have a stranglehold on any section of the electorate. Instead it relies on a swing vote that is more discerning and less forgiving than the constituents of the two larger parties.”

DOMINIC GASKIN

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21

sharma“The last 5 years the JFAP joined the Coalition APNU/ AFC government to make a difference for Guyanese and to help the poor and often voiceless people of Guyana. For this we are thankful for the opportunity to have been able to serve. Guyana is a democratic country where Our people have the freedom to vote, freedom to elect a new government every 5 years and interestingly enough Our people have the freedom to be disappointed in the outcome of an election too.”

CHANDRANARINE SHARMA

SAVITREE SINGH SHARMA

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22

tara-singh“At a basic level, an analysis of the PNCR’s loss of the 2020 elections shows that their main partner, AFC, have failed to deliver to the coalition even 20% of the votes they got in 2015 elections. The collapse of the AFC base, which began with the LGE 2018 and which continued to slide downwards along the precipice onto the 2020 elections, is mainly responsible for the PNCR’s loss. It is noted that the AFC were not as strong in 2011 as they were in 2015, but if one were to utilise the 2011 elections’ data, the AFC got over 35,000 votes.
In 2015, they received an estimated 40,000 votes. In 2020, they received around 5,000 votes. Why then did the AFC base and support shrink so rapidly?”

DR TARA SINGH

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23

ramphal“As one who pleaded that we, Guyanese, “do not descend into the pit of lawlessness”, I applaud the Chairman of GECOM, Claudette Singh, for elevating the rule of law above all other considerations. The CARICOM Report on the recount of the votes in the March 2nd general elections is more than a milestone in democracy in Guyana; it is a landmark in democratic ethics throughout CARICOM.”

SHRIDATH RAMPHAL

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24

anil“Fortunately, Lowenfield has tabulated the results of the recount in two separate pages tabulation for the regional votes and tabulation for the national votes – and he has totalled them accurately in accordance with the recount. GECOM is bound only to accept that and to reject every other facet of Lowenfield’s perversity,”

ANIL NANDLALL

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25

gaskin“It was never a valid assumption that, having won the 2015 elections by a slim majority, the APNU+AFC Coalition would easily win the 2020 elections. It was always going to be tough fight. I’m no political analyst, but it’s fairly obvious that the swing vote has determined the results of the last three General elections in Guyana. Having failed at the polls for over two decades, the PNC never commanded the electoral strength to win an election on its own, and was only able to squeeze past the PPP-C because of its alliance with the AFC.”

DOMINIC GASKIN

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