No other election under stewardship of Keith Lowenfield – AG Nandlall

Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has made it clear that a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) led administration will never go into another election under the stewardship of Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.
During his live streamed Facebook, “Issues in the News”, the AG responded to claims that the PPP/C is dodging the holding of Local Government Elections (LGEs) next year.
Nandlall stated emphatically that the PPP/C does not have a track record of dodging elections but that the administration is careful to have the elections, with proper people in charge of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“We will hold elections when elections are due. However, we are not mad people and therefore, only a mad person would want to go to an elections under the stewardship of Keith Lowenfield… Something has to really be wrong with any person who wants to go to an election under the stewardship of Keith Lowenfield and expects him to behave properly, and expects those elections to be conducted fairly and squarely,” he said during the live Facebook programme.

The AG stressed it is important for the elections commission and its stewards to enjoy the confidence of the people—Lowenfield has several charges as it regards electoral fraud pending in the courts.
As such, Nandlall noted Lowenfield does not enjoy the confidence of the majority of electors.
“He would have been condemned by all the political parties except for the A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC),” the AG stated.

The coalition lost the March 2 elections but a number of delays in the courts and at the GECOM level, only saw a new president, Irfaan Ali, being sworn in on August 2, five months later.
Nandlall’s statement comes days after President Irfaan Ali told media operatives that while he will not deny anyone’s right to vote, before the next Local Government Elections are held, the GECOM situation must be fixed.

“I will not override anyone’s right to vote […] I am not getting into Local Government Elections now. What we have to do is to fix what is there first and we have to ensure that we have a system that is working, and a system that people trust, and a system that is professional, and a system that operates in an unbiased manner so that the people of our country can have confidence,” President Ali said.
The President said stakeholders have expressed their concerns about enduring another lengthy electoral process.

“That is the general consensus of the population and that is the utmost importance in the minds of our people and that is what we have to address,” he said.
The Head of State had committed to launch an international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to probe the weaknesses of the elections body, following the protracted elections process after the March 2 General and Regional Elections. The CoI is expected to help in identifying issues, challenges, weakness and opportunities to ensure that the scenario is never repeated.

President Ali indicated that while no one has been named for the CoI, he would like it to be convened soon. However, the restrictions brought on by the pandemic have hampered this process, although the Head of State continues to speak with international organisations on the matter.