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“Country now sees where she stands” – Jagdeo on GECOM Chair’s rejection of Commissioners’ resolutions

“Country now sees where she stands” – Jagdeo on GECOM Chair’s rejection of Commissioners’ resolutions

April 26, 2020

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, believes that the decisions taken on Friday by the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, (retd) Justice Claudette Singh — to throw out several resolutions tabled by the Opposition Comissioners to ensure transparency — have revealed where she stands regarding the national recount.

The PPP had presented 10 resolutions to the seven-member Elections Commission, and according to Jagdeo, those were aimed at ensuring transparency and credibility of the pending recount process.
He explained during a virtual press briefing on Friday that the PPP could not allow continued delay of the national recount of the March 2 votes, and in order to have a swift conclusion, had tabled 10 resolutions to take the process forward.

Motion Number Synopsis Chairperson vote
1 a) The originals of all Statements of Poll for District 4 received by the Chief Election Officer be provided by the said Chief Election Officer to Commissioners for examination;

b) Copies of the all of the Statements of Poll for District 4 received by the Chief Election Officer be provided to Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission by the said Chief Election Officer.

 

 NO

(Although SOPs were made public in relation to the 2011 and 2105 elections upon the request of then Opposition Leader, David Granger)
2 That the entire recount exercise be observed by the Audit Office of Guyana or a duly accredited Audit Firm contracted by the Guyana Elections Commission, specifically for this process.

 

 NO
3 That the entire recount exercise be live streamed on traditional and/or social media NO
4 That the time for the conduct of the entire recount exercise be limited to fourteen (14) days.

 

 NO- 25 DAYS TO BE REVIEWED WHEN NECESSARY

(with this length of time, along with the process being left open ended are significant factors to discourage the CARICOM Team and international observers to return to observe the process)

5 That all members of staff of the Guyana Elections Commission who were involved in the activities which resulted in controversy, allegations of fraud and legal proceedings in the High Court after Elections Day 2020, be removed from active participation in the recount process.

 

 NO ROLE FOR THE ROs – ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF STAFF REMAIN

(This means that persons who were tainted in the previous exercise shall remain)
6 That the recount be conducted in strict accordance with Sections 84(6) to (11), 87, 89(1) and 90 of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 of the Laws of Guyana.

 

 THE DECISION IS IN THE PLAN

(An examination of the plan reveals that the process outlined is radically different from the procedure set out in the Representation of the Peoples Act and is therefore not in accordance with the law)
7 The tabulation of the Statements of Recount generated after the recount of each ballot box will be done at a central tabulation centre in the presence of the High-Level CARICOM Team, other International and Local Observer teams accredited by Guyana Elections Commission, representatives of political parties that contested the said elections, advisors to the Guyana Elections Commission, and such other persons authorized by the Guyana Elections Commission as follows:

a.    The Statement of Recount shall be projected on a screen to be viewed by all persons present;

b.    The information from Statement of Recount shall be input into a spreadsheet which process shall be viewed simultaneously by all persons present;

c.    In the event of a pause in the inputting process, a report on Statements of Recount input at that time will be made provided to representatives of contesting political parties by the staff responsible for the tabulation;

d.    Upon completion of an entire district, the representatives of contesting political parties shall be given an opportunity to verify the accuracy of the entire tabulation and thereafter, sign off on same if he/she wishes to do so.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YES

 

YES

 

 

 

NO

 

 

 

 

 

YES

 

 

 

 
8

 

 That the recount commences with Districts 1 & 4 simultaneously and continues with the remaining districts only after the completion of the said Districts 1 & 4.

 

 NO

(this means that the Region which is the singular cause for the recount, will not be completed, perhaps, until the end of the exercise)
9 That the Guyana Elections Commission immediately invites to observe the recount process each of the International and Local Observer team accredited to observe the 2nd  March 2020 elections.

 

  

YES
10 that the declaration of the election results of Electoral District number four (4) by Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, made on the 13th day of March 2020, and the consequential Report prepared and submitted to the Commission by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, pursuant to the provisions of Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, be set aside, revoked, annulled and rescinded by the Guyana Elections Commission.

 

 ALL REPORTS REMAIN IN ABEYANCE PENDING ENDING OF RECOUNT PROCESS

(This presents an incentive for the rigging cabal to undermine, frustrate, if not derail the recount, completely)

“So we decided [on Thursday] that we will have to trigger a decision by the Chair one way or the other, so that the country sees where she stands; because she writes one thing and people generally believe that she wants the matter to be addressed expeditiously and transparently, but in her deliberations at GECOM, she either doesn’t take a position or often sides with APNU in slowing down the process, frustrating movement forward, or taking decisions that are inimical, harmful to an expeditious or transparent recount,” the GS contended.

Among the 10 resolutions tabled by the PPP are one for the release of Statements of Poll (SOPs) from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), where fraudulent declarations were made by embattled Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo. The party also suggested that the Audit Office of Guyana or a private auditing firm be allowed to monitor the recount, and that the process be live-streamed for edification of the public and international observers. Also, the party had requested that GECOM set aside the fraudulent declarations made by Mingo, and the report subsequently prepared by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and submitted to the Commission, among others.

Jagdeo, who is also the Opposition Leader, pointed out that these proposed resolutions would not have only paved the way for the recount to move forward, but were also designed to ensure transparency of the process.
However, the GECOM Chair voted against them.

Vote against
“The most crucial aspects designed to ensure transparency of the recount, the Chair voted against those. So, she voted against livestreaming. Somewhere, I heard somebody said she said, ‘Statutorily, it’s against the process.’ How could live- streaming of the recount — you’re not live-streaming each ballot, but the recount — be against any law? How could transparency be against any law, enhanced transparency?” he argued.

According to the Opposition Leader, this is the biggest setback to the recount of the March 2 votes.
He was further baffled that the GECOM Chair had also voted against releasing to the GECOM Commissioners the SOPs for Region Four, pointing out that this was done at the 2011 and 2015 elections upon the request of APNU’s leader, David Granger. In fact, Jagdeo noted that at that time the SOPs were made public, but in this case, the Opposition is merely asking for the documents to be released only to the GECOM Commissioners, whom he said statutorily should see them.

“Why would any person who wants transparency not allow a copy of GECOM’s SOPs (to) be given to GECOM’s Commissioners, not even the public; when, in 2011, after Mr Granger wanted it, they released it to the public – the same GECOM released it. It tells a whole story. But again, this is [Justice Singh] voting with APNU…,” he contended. The Opposition Leader noted that the caretaker Coalition is scared of releasing the SOPs since those documents will expose their attempts to rig the elections and show that the PPP/C has won the elections.

Moreover, Jagdeo pointed out that another act that highlights the stance of the GECOM Chair is her position on the fraudulent declaration from Region Four. He pointed out that despite her previously setting aside both Mingo’s declaration and Lowenfield’s report, she indicated to the seven-member Commission on Friday that they are being held in abeyance until the recount has been completed.

This new position, the PPP GS stressed, comes one day after Government-nominated GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander told reporters that the declaration by Mingo remains legal until it is superseded by the completion of the recount.

“So it seems as though there is a great deal of pandering to the APNU and Vincent Alexander, and the rigging cabal… We’ve seen an enormous amount of procrastination… APNU has been delaying recount through their Commissioners and the staff of GECOM, and enabled by Chair. This is why we had to put these motions to ensure that the country sees exactly where we stand today, so that they can judge the Chair based on what she’s been saying and based on her actions and her vote today at GECOM, whether she truly wants transparency in the recount,” Jagdeo stated.

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