5th June – 10th June Quotes

1

“Article 177: 2 (b) is quite clear… it says that once it is established that one list has more numbers than the other, then the presidential candidate with the majority vote is deemed the president of Guyana, is deemed, and the Chair of GECOM shall declare him as president,”

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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2

“It is about accepting the will of the people. There is no graceful way to lose the public; you have to say it to your friends, colleagues, family. It can be very painful, but you have to remember that it is not a personal rejection and that the people have expressed their will; and the people are not condemning you by not voting for you, but they are saying that we want someone else to govern us.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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3

“The political types, the political appointees, the political hacks that went into these ministries in their droves and suppressed the professionalism of the public service and made the public service incapacitated and handicapped because of political control, you should all do the decent thing and resign before the new government comes into office,”

JUAN EDGHILL

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4

“When you take part in an election, there is always a chance that you will lose, and if you lose, like sir Arthur [Lewis] said: ‘Take your licks like a man’,”

RALPH GONSALVES

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5

“If there is an issue at the level of leaders – between leaders of the Caribbean and Guyana – then one would expect that leaders of the Caribbean would have to be spoken to with respect and that the person who is qualified to speak to other Caribbean leaders will be the leader of Guyana and not Mr Joe Harmon.

OWEN ARTHUR

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6

“Regardless of which political party wins a national election thru a fair and transparent process, the will of the majority must prevail. We have a right to our personal preferences in political party and leadership. But these preferences cannot and must not trump the will of the people as expressed in their elected choice.”

DANIEL K. GIBRAN

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7

“The elections were held more than 100 days ago. Twice we have had the real results. On the evening of 2nd March, 2339 presiding officers counted the votes and published the results at each one of the 2339 polling stations. The PPP published their copies of the SOPs online on March 5. Some of these SOPs were published in the Stabroek News, but GECOM and APNU+AFC hid their copies.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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8

“The WPA in the pre-democracy era propounded and embraced as a foundational principle People’s Power which must surely recognise the will of the people expressed in their vote. Hinds wants to reject that vote – to destroy the ballot boxes. He wants power sharing but refused to engage me on a Globespan programme on his definition of power sharing. Hinds who is seen as a leading WPA spokesperson must recognise that Rodney’s party’s power sharing call arose in a pre-democracy era.”

CHRISTOPHER RAM

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9

“Article 177: 2 (b) is quite clear… it says that once it is established that one list has more numbers than the other, then the presidential candidate with the majority vote is deemed the president of Guyana, is deemed, and the Chair of GECOM shall declare him as president,”

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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10

“The sugar sector is not on the verge of collapsing anymore, but is now in total financial chaos, the government has announced that there is no money for the industry,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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11

“I must also say that Joe Harmon’s and his party’s attacks on people is putting his party and his leader in a position where I believe it would be very difficult for them to be able to engage in fellowship of goodwill with other people in the Caribbean.

“The vitriolic attack on other leaders is really in a way putting Guyana in a condition where it appears to have itself being led by people who are out of order.

“Mr Harmon cannot be allowed to indulge his appetite to be attacking leaders.

OWEN ARTHUR

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12

“Then they hear a man denying reality made so clear in the Recounting process. And so they asked once more, is this really our David Granger?”

“Your continued denials and obstructions are imperilling the safety and progress of our country. In a democratic state we pay a heavy price, but it is a price worth paying.”

DANIEL K. GIBRAN

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13

“There are consequences,” “by being a member of the Commonwealth; it is not just a political act, you are a beneficiary of technical and other assistance. The Guyanese elections were conducted with technical assistance from the Commonwealth. And you could become a pariah state and you could be suspended.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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14

“We are expecting that the Commission will act in accordance with their mandate…and now that the results are known, they will formally declare Irfaan Ali as President of Guyana, before the 16 of June”.

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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15

“Guyana is in a mess as a result of APNU+AFC’s squandermania.
In accordance with the Constitution, Dr. Irfaan Ali is deemed the President of Guyana. Swearing in Dr. Irfaan Ali as Guyana’s new President is urgent, not just because the PPP won the elections of March 2, but because our country is bleeding.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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16

“Ralph Gonsalves’ statement that CARICOM will not stand by to watch an election being stolen is perfectly in order and is exactly what is expected.

“Caribbean countries, including Guyana, have signed a Charter for Civil Society which enjoins upon them the responsibility to have free and fair elections.

“It would, therefore, be entirely contrary to the provisions of the Charter for Civil Society for CARICOM countries to stand by if an election is being stolen.

“And therefore Mr Gonsalves was only speaking within the context of the spirit and the letter of the Charter of Civil Society when he made the statement that he made.

OWEN ARTHUR

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17

“He gave full assurance that he is going to put systems in place to have this done and I reminded him of the 2015 scenario where officers were placed at the different ministries and he assured that he is going to look into this,”

DR IRFAAN ALI

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18

“We remain hopeful that they are not influenced once again by APNU and should they depart from the professional course that they embarked upon during the recount, there must be consequences. So I hope they will be mindful of that and that they continue to act professionally,”

BHARRAT JAGDEO

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19

“The greater tragedy is that this same Government forced Guyana to spend close to $1B for a recount exercise for the March elections when they knew full well that the Statements of Poll were accurate. We spent $1B for a totally needless exercise, while 10,000 sugar workers are facing a close-down of the remaining sugar estates.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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20

“Canada, European Union, and the United Kingdom have also spoken,” “and I don’t think Guyana could take, seriously withstand the fire of the entire global community if it seeks to incur that kind of sanctions at the economic level or other levels. I don’t think so. The world is watching. In all matters, let Guyana be a country in the eyes of the global community, and is respectful of the rule of law.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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21

“Chief Election Officer Mr. Keith Lowenfield has submitted “his” report on the deadline. A report that has outlined statistics to represent allegations that are not proven and have been debunked on many occasions. These allegations were termed “anomalies” and “voters impersonation” and they riddled all the regions’ reports I’ve seen thus far. He concluded his report by saying that on the basis of the votes counted and information furnished from the recount, it cannot be ascertained that the results of each district met the standard of a fair and credible election.”

DR JOSH KANHAI

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22

“It can’t be that someone at the level of Mr. Harmon thinks that he has the authority to unleash the kind of vitriolic attack that he unleashes on Caribbean leaders…He is not a Caribbean leader, and your leader should tell Mr. Harmon that he is out of order and he is out of place.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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23

“I was the WPA’s Counsel along with Moses Bhagwan (in absentia) and took my instructions from Tacuma Ogunseye, Jocelyn Dow, Dr. David Hinds, Desmond Trotman, Eusi Kwayana and to a lesser extent Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine. Despite the passage of more than thirty years, the evidence provided to me was no less compelling or riveting. In his evidence, Ogunseye told the COI that Mr. Burnham was prepared not to lose power at all costs, and that he was “prepared to do anything to maintain that power”.

CHRISTOPHER RAM

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24

“In May 2015, the deposits were a positive $8.5B. APNU+AFC spent out all of that money, most of the $25B gold deposits, and then went into overdraft of $92B by end of April. It is possible that the overdraft is in excess of $100B right now.”

DR LESLIE RAMSAMMY

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25

“Guyana also benefits,” “from the fact that every Caribbean head issued a statement. The statement that we issued was to proclaim that the strong support and reinforcement of support for Guyana’s territorial and sovereignty in the face of a claim by Venezuela for two-thirds of your land. So, CARICOM stands by Guyana on a matter of fundamental importance to the people of Guyana.”

OWEN ARTHUR

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