PPP, APNU+AFC accuse each other of frustrating recount

The two major parties are accusing each other of trying to frustrate the national recount.
Why? Both of them have declared victory in the March 2 General and Regional Elections, and each insist that the other party does not want the recount to confirm the truth to the public.
Despite their declarations of victory being in clear contravention of the electoral code of conduct they signed at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the two parties continue to argue on this premise.

Facebook pages purported to be controlled by the President have posted a graphic stating that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is trying to frustrate the recount.
The graphic did not state a reason for its accusation, but A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has widely presented itself as a party not interested in interfering with the work of GECOM. It has presented the PPP as an interfering force.
It has not taken lightly to the PPP’s continued criticism of Commissioners nominated by the Government and now the GECOM Chair.

The Chair, Justice Claudette Singh, and the three Government nominated Commissioners have come under criticism from the PPP and its allies for their voting patterns at the level of the Commission, in preparation for the national recount.
But if you ask Commissioner Vincent Alexander, he would tell you that the PPP has been attempting to direct GECOM’s work.
The sharp criticisms coming out of some frontbenchers in the PPP are actually “cheap politicking”, Alexander said recently.

And the assertion that there are attempts to direct GECOM’s work, he said, is evidenced by the fact that proposals being brought to the Commission by Commissioner Sase Gunraj are the same as the proposals being made by the PPP in the public.
What you see happening, Alexander said, is that the PPP says one thing in the public, and the same position is brought to the Commission at the following meeting.

“And there are repeated examples of this I can point to.” Alexander said that the draft order proposed by Gunraj is a good example of that.
“I’m quite sure Nandlall had a hand in that,” Alexander said of the PPP executive, who has been very critical of him.

Alexander told reporters that he had decided to make amendments to the draft order, when it was brought to the Commission at the end of one of the meetings. Overnight, he said, it became the topic of cheap politicking.
Nandlall had said, following the meeting, “Alexander is also hell-bent in including in the Order currently under review by the Commission, a host of matters which he hopes will cause the recount process to run afoul of the law. He is doing so deliberately, knowing ‘fully’ well, the likely consequences!”

Alexander added that the matter of the work plan for the recount is also one that demonstrates an attempt to direct GECOM from the outside.
“You had a situation where the Commission met, it gave guidance to the CEO, and the CEO was asked to come up with a work plan.”

“CEO came up with a work plan. Mr. Gunraj asked permission to work with that work plan overnight. Next day, he came back beyond the time asked for with a work plan purportedly coming from the three Commissioners.”
“But in the public domain, the PPP claims it’s their work plan. So here, we have the political party attempting to inject into the system their work plan.”
Alexander said that he does not think these attempts at interference are helpful at all. In fact, he said, they are harmful to the work of GECOM.

Furthermore, Alexander has accused Commissioners nominated by the Opposition of continuously resurrecting matters that have already been settled by the Commission.
Gunraj, for instance, is one of those Commissioners. He has, for instance, repeatedly attempted to reinvigorate arguments over the number of stations that should be used by GECOM and the number of hours in day for which GECOM should work. He has done this, despite the Chair already deciding on 10 workstations and 10 hours a day of work.

The PPP, clearly incensed by accusations it is trying to frustrate the process, responded yesterday.
It refuted the accusation stating that, “the world knows who is trying to frustrate the recount”.
The party has accused Granger of spearheading attempts to rig the election, which the party believes is evidenced by the controversy that surrounded the declarations made by Region Four returning officer, Clairmont Mingo, and the subsequent court challenge of the recount by an APNU+AFC candidate.
The party said that two APNU+AFC candidates, Ulita Moore and Roysdale Forde, were involved in attempts to block

the CARICOM supervised recount.
Granger has distanced himself from the court matter, insisting that the application for the interim injunction was done by a private citizen.
Even before that, the PPP noted, there were other attempts to block the recount, including the abrupt fumigation of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. At one point, armed military officers had even entered the compound and ordered all of the persons in the compound to leave.

The PPP also noted the plan, which was proposed by GECOM Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, for a recount which would have lasted 156 days. The party claims this plan was supported by Alexander.
It was a Commissioner nominated by the PPP, Robeson Benn, who was actually the one primarily responsible for the outrage over the 156-day plan. Alexander told reporters that it was Benn who insisted to Lowenfield that two Commissioners would be present at each workstation for the GECOM supervised recount.

There are only six Commissioners. Hence, it was only logical for Lowenfield to assume only three workstations in the plan, despite Opposition Commissioners advocating for more.
That requirement was later lifted, and Lowenfield was later allowed to adjust the plan, though he had only added two more workstations.

The PPP also noted the request by Chair of the COVID-19 Task Force, Moses Nagamootoo, to have the CARICOM high level team quarantined for 14 days, as one reason they believe APNU+AFC is trying to frustrate the recount. This requirement was later lifted by the President, who insisted that nothing should be done to delay the recount.
The Opposition party also scoffed at what it said are attempts to remove safeguards from the recount process, including the proposal for independent auditors to be involved in the recount and the proposal for live-streaming of the recount. These proposals were rejected by the Chair of GECOM.

It contended that if Granger is genuine about wanting an expeditious and transparent recount, that he should agree to the PPP’s proposal to the recount done in 10 days in the presence of auditors and observers, and for the recount to be live streamed.
The PPP stated that it released its copies of the Region Four statements of poll, which it said show that it won the election. It said that if APNU+AFC is sure it has won the election, then it should release to the public the statements of poll in its possession.