APNU+AFC files election petitions, hopes for fresh elections

THE APNU+AFC coalition on Monday officially challenged the outcome of the March 02, 2020 elections by filing two election petitions at the High Court.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) emerged victorious in the aftermath of those elections.
The coalition through its lawyer Roysdale Forde filed the documents on behalf of the applicants Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick, who want the High Court to determine the legality of the elections and the results that led to the declaration and allocation of seats in the National Assembly.
Other attorneys who were part of the filing were Raphael Trotman, Olayne Joseph and Trinidad Senior Counsel John Jeremie.

The coalition also named several respondents, including Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield; Vice-president Bharrat Jagdeo, as well as representatives of several political parties that contested the elections, as it wants the High Court to cancel the polls and order fresh elections within 90 days

Saying nothing about the party’s Statements of Polls (SoPs), former President and Leader of the APNU+AFC coalition, David Granger, while outside the High Court said the coalition is confident that it has enough evidence to prove that the elections were poorly managed.
However, Attorney Forde said the coalition will not be providing its SoPs, noting that it was not relevant to what the APNU+AFC was asking the court to determine.

“As we have said repeatedly, the elections was [sic] not decided on Statements of Poll; it [sic] was decided on the recount and if we are challenging the results of the elections, it must be on the basis of the recount and those documents,” he said.
The applicants have also named Granger as a respondent to the petitions where they are also asking for a quick and expedited hearing.

According to Guyana’s laws, the validity of votes can be challenged only through an election petition after the overall election result has been declared and a government is in place. At this point, an investigation will be done and the case tried in court based on the evidence presented.