Jagdeo says CCJ ruling ‘strong and reasoned’, looks forward to swearing-in of Irfaan Ali as President

Leader of the Opposition People’s Progressive Party Bharrat Jagdeo in welcoming Wednesday’s ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) said he now looks forward to an early declaration of the March 02, 2020 elections results which would show that the PPP won those polls.

The CCJ ruling has set aside the June 22 2-1 ruling by Guyana’s Court of Appeal and has also set aside the latest report by the Chief Elections Officer which disenfranchised over 115,000 voters to hand the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition a majority parliamentary victory.

Jagdeo described the ruling as clear, strong and reasoned but said the PPP will remain vigilant against the contemptuous nature of those who would seek to continue to frustrate the electoral process.

The CCJ ruled that Guyana’s Appellate Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter brought before it by a private citizen and in so doing erred in its ruling. This is what the PPP had always maintained which prompted the appeal to the CCJ.

But the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield had already produced his botched report a day after the Court of Appeal ruling using that ruling to justify his reasoning for dumping votes which he claimed were not valid.

The PPP had always maintained that the certified figures from the national recount exercise should be used but figures show a victory for the PPP by over 15,000 votes.

The CCJ has also set aside that report by Lowenfield with Jagdeo now declaring that the PPP is quite interested in what he will do next since the CCJ has said that he needs to follow the instructions given by the Chairman of the electoral body.

The Chairman, former Judge Claudette Singh had already instructed him to prepare his report based on the recount figures which he refused to do.

Jagdeo said the PPP is cautious that Lowenfield might seek to be contemptuous, “given the brazen manner in which he has acted before.”

“He could act in contempt of Court… but the Commission and CEO have clear guidance from the Caribbean Court of Justice on what constitutes valid votes,” he added.

Jagdeo now hopes for a speedy conclusion to the more than four-month-old elections impasse and said at this point there should be no endeavours to block the speedy conclusion of the elections process.