‘Guyanese want credible results’

A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Campaign Manager, Joseph Harmon said while the regional and international communities have weighed in on Guyana’s Elections, Guyanese have been paying keen interest, and have long established the position that any result declared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must be on the basis of valid votes.

Harmon appeared on Antigua and Barbuda’s Radio programme, NICE 104.3FM, on Sunday, when he attempted to clear up misconceptions his party believes have been widely spread by the Opposition – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

He said while Guyana values the interest shown by foreign nations in its affairs, there is a clear line which separates interest and interference which ought not to be crossed. Furthermore, he said that while these regional and international representatives from the outside looking in have made several calls, the Guyanese people understand what the real issues are, and are determined to stand up for what they believe is right.

Going into depth, Harmon notified the public that the real issue is that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) has submitted his report which outlines the votes he is not able to validate and those he can. The latter, Harmon said, according to law, must form the basis upon which the declaration of the election is made.

“While we take notice of statements made, we are happy that other countries have shown a deep interest in our affairs. We thank them for that, but we just don’t want them to go beyond a certain line. The sense I got, in speaking to people across the Region, is that there was some amount of misinformation that was sent to them and now we are reaching out in a more aggressive way. We have sent out our press statements, we have taken out full-page advertisements in some of the newspaper across the Region,” Harmon explained.

He added: “For a long time, the PPP, they’ve actually dominated this area and because of their connections they’ve been able to feed a lot of false information, fake news; but now people have the facts, people have the real story.”

He pointed out that while the Opposition has chosen to focus only on the aspect of the national recount that dealt with the numerical calculation of ballots cast, it has intentionally ignored the credibility aspect of the recount which must determine whether the said ballots were validly cast.

Harmon told listeners on Sunday that on the very first day of the recount and well into the 33 days which marked its First Phase, irregularities, anomalies and voter impersonation were noticed and recorded by the Elections Commission through numerous Observation Reports.

According to the APNU+AFC’s observation, the “epicenter of fraud” was located on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), which is widely known to be a stronghold of the PPP/C.

“You had several boxes with nothing other than ballots in it, no statutory documents and when you added it up, you had about 49 boxes without statutory documents and that was just one element,” he said.

Along with other wrongdoings found, Harmon said that over 60 letters were sent to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) requesting that investigations be conducted.

Fast forward to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, he said that the court, in interpreting the laws of Guyana, pointed the Commission and the CEO back to the Constitution and Order No.60 which states that GECOM has a responsibility to ascertain a winner from valid votes cast.

Harmon notified the public that even in the Appellate Court’s ruling, which is final according to the Constitution, the PPP/C has ventured to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to determine whether it has jurisdiction to rule on the matter and, further, to invalidate the Appellate Court’s ruling which called for a declaration based on valid votes cast.

“Even if you’re to get past that, what else are you asking for?” Harmon questioned. “That you must now determine an election based not only on valid votes but invalid votes? That is the preposterousness of this application that is before the CCJ and I think that the entire Region should be appalled by such an application by the People’s Progressive Party and the other parties that have been connected to the PPP.”

Harmon said that he looks forward to the imminent day when Guyana can conclude its elections and move forward to dealing with more pressing matters affecting the country such as the COVID-19 pandemic.