The Courts will provide finality

APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate, Khemraj Ramjattan has stated that, while it is understandable that Guyanese are eagerly awaiting a conclusion to the March 2020 Elections, going to the Courts will provide finality to fundamental questions of national importance arising out of the elections.

As guest on an APNU+AFC’s programme on Friday, Ramjattan stated that though he was not expecting the delay to a determination on the elections, the matter, which is now before the High Court, will give Guyanese the legal resolution they so desire.

“I think that people out there in Guyana should be very happy that, at least, this route towards knowing what should be the final outcome, coming from a Court of Law, will make it very definitive, will make it final,” he said.

Ramjattan reminded listeners that the High Court had exclusive jurisdiction to deal with matters relating to the validity of elections, and while persons are complaining about the move of a private citizen to go to the Court, it is what Guyana needs at this time.

He likened the current situation to that of the 2018 no-confidence motion brought against the APNU+AFC government which made its way through the Courts all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

He said that there were contrasting opinions held on the interpretation of Guyana’s Constitution and law which were made clear once and for all through the Courts.

“Just like the no-confidence motion we went right up to the CCJ. A lot of persons cussed us and said we can’t do mathematics and again they will cuss us here, they will say 233 is more than 217. But the principle is that you must not get 233 out of a process that is not credible where thousands and thousands of the boxes obviously were tainted when the documents were not in there,” Ramjattan reasoned, adding

“The question of credibility is one that looms large in this election…though unprecedented, it is very useful for our jurisprudence; it is very useful for our authoritative legal text to state that, indeed, these matters were addressed — even if it’s going to be 2020 June month — that they were addressed by then so that it can be, again, something that can bring finality to the process.”

Ramjattan shares the belief of his party that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, is bound to Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act which states: “The Chief Elections Officer shall calculate the total number of valid votes of electors which have been cast for each list of candidates and thereupon shall ascertain the result of the election in accordance with sections 97 and 98. 97.”

He said that with the GECOM Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh and the CEO being pressured by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to declare only the numerical count of ballots inclusive of the wrongdoings observed, the Courts will provide the Elections Commission with clear direction as opposed to operating on the basis of opinions or misinterpretations of the law.

Ramjattan iterated: “The Court system is there for a purpose…that is the best place we can go. Do you want us to have like what we had at Bath Settlement with people with cutlasses running police officers away? Guyana is civilized and the civility of it will depend on the routes we take to go towards the institutions and the institution here that has a final bearing is out court system.”

In his opinion, the elections should be nullified based on the position that ‘one bad apple, spoils the whole bunch’. Even so, he looks forward to the progress of the matter through the Courts towards a conclusion to Guyana’s elections.