No action against Lowenfield would be blatantly unlawful – ANUG Chair

When one considers the improper actions of Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, it would be “blatantly unlawful” if the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (retd), Claudette Singh does not take any action against him. Making this strong statement during an interview with Kaieteur News yesterday was Chairman of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Timothy Jonas.

The attorney-at-law said it is expected that Lowenfield be immediately dismissed after his deliberate refusal to follow clear instructions given to him by the GECOM Chair. It was previously reported that Lowenfield was told to submit his report using the results of the national recount which concluded on June 8, last. Those results show that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is the winner of the 2020 elections. Instead of using this outcome to inform his report, Lowenfield resorted to inaccurate computations so as to give the APNU+AFC Party the lead in the 2020 polls.

The ANUG Chair further emphasized that owing to Lowenfield’s act of insubordination, the Chair would be left with no other choice but to fire the CEO. Jonas also noted that the GECOM Chair would have the support from the Commission on her decision to immediately dismiss Lowenfield.

The lawyer’s sentiments were also shared by the wider members of his party. Yesterday afternoon, ANUG issued a statement calling for the immediate dismissal of the GECOM CEO. The party stated that “the CEO’s conduct, including most recently, his refusal to adhere to the instructions of the Chair…warrants summary dismissal.”

Further to this, ANUG noted that the Commission as a matter of “administrative necessity” should identify a nominee as Mr. Lowenfield’s replacement before the next meeting to ensure that there is no delay after the CEO’s dismissal. The new replacement, the statement noted, would be required to report as the new CEO under Section 96, and to declare the election results based on the lawful report of the recount as mandated by GECOM, and approved by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) at its July 8 ruling.

Also joining the call yesterday for Lowenfield’s removal was the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG). FITUG called upon GECOM to act proactively and have Mr. Lowenfield, without further delay, removed from his post. It stressed that the “electoral process has gone on for far too long. FITUG was keen to point out that there is no obstacle that prevents the GECOM from taking decisive action and declare the results in keeping with the outcome of the national recount.