No gov’t should be sworn in with fraudulent votes
APNU+AFC Campaign Manager Joseph Harmon
APNU+AFC Campaign Manager Joseph Harmon

– Harmon says as PPP/C lauds GECOM’s decision, urging speedy declaration of results

NO Government could be declared the winner of Guyana’s General and Regional Elections based on fraudulent votes, Campaign Manager of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), Joseph Harmon has said.

His comments were in direct response to a decision of the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, to proceed with the declaration of the results based on the votes tabulated during the National Recount.  Those votes have been marred by thousands of irregularities and cases of voter impersonation – dead and migrant voters – and while, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, concluded that the Elections were far from credible, Justice Singh said the hand of the Commission was ‘tied.’ According to her, while Article 162 allows for a National Recount, it does not provide for the Commission to examine and re-examine witnesses or procure official documents to determine the truth of the allegations. Such is a matter for the High Court, she posited, while alluding to Article 163 of the Constitution.

Notwithstanding this explanation, which was made public by way of a statement issued by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, on behalf of the Chair, Harmon said the government was awaiting the written directive the Elections Chairman will give to Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, as the national recount process moves to its fourth stage. Harmon said the Coalition is waiting to see what will be contained in that letter especially since Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act requires that the CEO submits a report to the chair for her declaration of the “valid votes.”

“The CEO always has to act in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of this country and therefore cannot make a submission which is unlawful. So, he has to be aware of that when he sends to the Chairman what are considered valid votes cast at these elections,” Harmon posited. The CEO, in his report, had pointed to over 2,000 anomalies and approximately 4,800 cases of voter impersonation, which have in effect compromised well over 200,000 votes. Only 40 percent of the total votes cast were reported to have been untainted.

“There was a process of a recount which lasted for 33 days and if we were to say that work is not to be considered, even though the gazetted order requires it to be so then we will have to see what the letter says,” Harmon said.

He added: “The CEO cannot declare anything other than valid votes and in his determination of valid votes, we will wait to see those reports of the CEO reflected in the way those votes are tallied.”

Harmon said that, so far, no winner or loser has been declared as the chairman has made a finding so far from the reports submitted by the CEO. “The final determination will be made when she puts in writing what is her meaning to the CEO and he responds in a way that the Guyanese people can understand.”

PPP/C rejoices

Over at Freedom House, there was much celebration, with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) expressing extreme happiness at the decision of the GECOM Chair.

The use of the recount results, in keeping with Section 96 of the Representation of the Act, Chapter 1:03, it said, paves way for the official declaration of Election Results, and subsequently the swearing-in of the president. “The PPP/C wishes to commend the GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, for standing on the side of rule of law and upholding the Constitution of Guyana,” the Opposition party said.

According to PPP/C, the Commission’s decision is in line with earlier expressed views that GECOM is not a court of law; therefore it has no jurisdiction to hear allegations of irregularities, which, could only be ventilated in the High Court by way of an Elections Petition.

“Commission agreed that GECOM has no jurisdiction to annul an election, since no such power was conferred onto it under Article 162 (1) (b) of the Constitution,” it said. Anticipating that the results will be declared based on all votes tabulated during the recount, the PPP/C congratulated Irfaan Ali, its President-Elect. “The move towards a speedy transition to a democratically-elected government will allow our nation to focus on the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment and issues related to the economy, among others,” it said.

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