Process to finalise elections results continues to be undermined – PPP

See below full statement by the People’s Progressive Party:

Guyanese, as well as the regional and international community, continue to witness the undermining of the process to finalize the results of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections, to allow for a declaration and swearing-in of Guyana’s new president – in a transparent and lawful manner.

The People’s Progressive Party notes that the past two weeks have exposed the complicity of some staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and certain high-ranking members of the APNU+AFC Coalition to: perpetrate electoral fraud on the Guyanese people; undermine our democracy; and expose Guyana to isolation in the free world.

Within a matter of days, we have had two fraudulent declarations of election results in Region 4 by a compromised Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, maneuvers that undercut transparency and credibility in the electoral process and, today, efforts to frustrate and undermine an agreement for a CARICOMs upervised recount of votes from the 2020 Elections.

The filing of an injunction today (March 17, 2020) to block the agreed recount exposes the duplicity of President David Granger, those around him and those within the APNU+AFC Coalition.

It was Mr. Granger who called the CARICOM Chair, Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, to say he did not want to be sworn in on the basis of disputed election results and requested a high-level CARICOM team to supervise a recount of the ballots.

The PPP, although skeptical of his intentions, agreed to this, as a political solution to move our country forward and avoid negative consequences for our nation. In addition to the delay in signing the aide-memoire, there have been consistent efforts by Granger’s agents to undermine the CARICOM agreement, which he himself requested.

The latest episode in this saga is having Ulita Moore, who was an APNU+AFC Coalition candidate, file an injunction to stop the recount. The global community has seen the true nature of Mr. Granger and his cabal. This is now revealed, firsthand, to the leaders of CARICOM.

They, too, will not be able to recognize his illegal and illegitimate regime should he move forward to be sworn in based on fraudulent results. Further, the moves by the APNU+AFC Coalition to mobilize protesters across the country, with calls for Granger to be sworn in as president, shows the extent to which this rigging cabal would go to destroy our democracy.

The truth of the results of the 2020 General and Regional Election results is in the ballot boxes. This is why the recount, specifically the recount of votes in Region 4, is being resisted. The numbers are clear.

In addition to accepted declarations from nine regions, the Party made public all of its Statements of Polls (SOPs) for Region 4. A statement from the Organization of American States (OAS) electoral observer mission said: “The Mission has noted that images of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic, on its website…(they) produce a result that is vastly different from that being declared by the Returning Officer and would have a decisive effect on the outcome of the national election.

To date, neither the Chief Elections Officer nor APNU has challenged the authenticity of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic by producing the copies in their possession.”

The PPP has also published, online, the Tally Sheets, signed by Presiding Officers across Region 4, to support its GECOM-issued Statements of Poll. Again, there has been no challenge to these documents.

The PPP wishes to underscore that APNU+AFC and its tiny cabal are alone in their misguided, foolhardy and regressive undertaking. The Party will continue to fight for our democracy. The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is not alone in this fight.

The international community, civil society and dozens of local groups and most of the smaller political parties, as well as the majority of Guyanese, are with us in this fight. As recent as this morning, the United States of America’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in comments about Guyana, during a news conference, said: “The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana; the election took place on March 2. We join the OAS, Commonwealth, the EU, CARICOM and other democratic partners in calling for an accurate count. We commend CARICOM’s role in seeking a swift democratic resolution. It is important to note that the individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and to form illegitimate governments, regimes, will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States.”

Should there be a swearing-in on the basis of fraudulent election results, the People’s Progressive Party will treat Mr. Granger’s regime as illegal and illegitimate and will pursue the consequences addressed by Secretary Pompeo to the end, as well as sanctions for the members of the APNU+AFC Coalition, their families, their cronies, and their collaborators.

We urge all Guyanese, particularly supporters of the PPP, to remain vigilant and calm; do not be provoked and ensure that no action is taken in contradiction with the laws of Guyana; stay home and await further guidance from the Party.

There will be a time for a visible expression of disgust with and rejection of the APNU+AFC Coalition’s hijacking of our democracy.

People’s Progressive Party

March 17, 2020