“FREEDOM!” It was the first word shouted; and it was loud, jubilant, triumphant and impassioned. It was in reaction to GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Mr Keith Lowenfield announcing, albeit preliminarily, that Brigadier (Rt’d) David Granger has more or less been elected the next Head of State of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.He is, for the moment, the de facto ‘President Elect.’
72 HOURS LATER
At noon yesterday, May 16, 2015, 72 hours after the Monday, May 11 18:00hrs close of poll, Lowenfield was about to announce to the nation GECOM’s preliminary results following the long-awaited tabulation, verification, cross referencing and processing.

Chairman of the Elections Commission, the normally verbose Dr. Steve Surujbally was brief as he introduced Lowenfield to reveal the results.

I was assigned to cover the Campaign Headquarters of the coalesced A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) party on the border of Queenstown and Alberttown in Georgetown.

Aided by public broadcast, word had already spread of GECOM’s imminent press conference to be delivered ‘live’ to the nation, and scores of persons had already descended on the premises, and begun to assemble in front of the large-screen television that had become a feature of the location.

Twenty/20 cricket action was in full swing, but few, if any, paid attention to the game that was being broadcast, the attention of the assembly being absorbed in the heated debate among those present, tempers flaring and emotions running high as the minutes ticked closer to noon.
ANXIETY OVERDRIVE
The mature kept the anxious calm, and when Dr. Surujbally appeared on screen to speak, a deadly silence so hijacked the atmosphere that if a nail had been dropped (I wouldn’t stretch it to a pin), its fall would have evoked a deafening noise. And as Mr Lowenfield pre-ambled, it was as if time had stopped as faces spelled anxiety in overdrive; but all remained as silent as a sentry on the graveyard shift.

The bar graphs were displayed on screen as Lowenfield’s voice translated the illegible, out-of-focus, all-important data the nation had waited so anxiously for, and disclosed the results, region by region.

The incumbent Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) secured the first three regions: Barima/Waini; Pomeroon/Supenaam, and Essequibo Islands/West Demerara, with commanding votes over the opposition. Exactly 93,931 cumulative votes were cast in these three regions, according to GECOM’s preliminary figures.

The APNU+AFC team, having campaigned long and hard in the three regions, earned for themselves the confidence of a cumulative 30,489 electors of the three regions, whilst the incumbent party commanded a massive 62,384 votes, more than double that of the opposition.
THOSE OTHERS
The other parties contesting the 2015 elections were as follows: the Independent Party (IP), the National Independent Party (NIP), The United Force (TUF) and the United Republican Party (URP).

HUSHED
The APNU+AFC campaign headquarters remained hushed as more supporters made their way in, and were quickly brought to silence if not paying attention to the keen ears and eyes trained on the television ahead.
The results of Region Four were next read. APNU+AFC, Lowenfield said, obtained 113,534 votes; the IP 200; NIP 217; and word of the PPP/C securing only 69,914 votes instantly brought a sense of relief to those around me. Lowenfield had announced that APNU+AFC had secured a commanding lead over the incumbent PPP/C when the votes were counted for Region Four, Demerara/Mahaica. A total of 183,949 votes had been cast in this Region, but with word of the APNU+AFC’s performance in the region, none cared to hear about the 50 votes the TUF had garnered, nor the 34 that the URP had acquired.
GREEN/YELLOW GARB
The gathering kept growing by the minute. Many were decked out in green and yellow garb (no need to explain why), and were quickly hushed as Lowenfield prepared to announce the results for those that voted in Region Five, in the Mahaica-Berbice district.

This region has, over the years, been recognised as a stronghold of the ruling PPP/C, but during the 2011 elections, the opposition had make significant inroads there.

At the 2011 elections, APNU and AFC contested as separate parties, but collectively, as an opposition, they had secured 11,987 votes, while the had PPP/C secured 13,558.

This time around, Lowenfield announced that 13,416 votes had been counted for the Coalition, while 16,644 votes had been tallied for the incumbent party. None of the other parties secured more than double digits when the tabulations were completed.

Those glaring at the television screen, sometimes sneeringly, as GECOM’s CEO made the announcement, maintained restraint as the votes for Region Six were announced. The PPP/C was again in electoral control of East Berbice/Corentyne.
The coalition did continue to make impressive showing in the Region at the polls, securing, according to Lowenfield, 22,112 of the total 61,927 votes that had been cast.

The PPP/C, however, remained in commanding control with 39,536 of the votes for that region.
HEADQUARTERS SILENT
The TUF was the only one of the smaller parties to secure more than 100 votes in that region.
The APNU+AFC campaign headquarters maintained silence; the television could be heard from a usually long distance away, given the size of the crowd that had converged listening to what has since proved to be a most historic occasion.

The GECOM CEO then announced the preliminary results for Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni). There were only 7,481 votes cast in this region, of which the ruling party secured 2,673. Word of APNU+AFC winning the region with 4,596 votes saw a short-lived outburst quickly tempered, as there were still the results for three key regions to be announced.

A total of 3,628 votes were cast in the Potaro/Siparuni Region Eight constituency, and the coalition won this region too; but barely. The coalesced APNU+AFC secured 1,837 of the votes, with the PPP/C closely behind with 1,727 of the votes. The smaller parties collectively earned less than 100 votes from this region.

Both of the main contenders had campaigned hard in Region Nine, Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo, and there was a total of 9,546 valid votes cast.

The coalition did not win this region, but supporters did not seem to lose hope, as Region 10 was a known stronghold for the opposition, and the results for that region were still to be announced.

The coalition garnered 3,592 votes in Region Nine, whilst the incumbent had a commanding lead of 5,794.
PRESIDENT ELECT
All of the Statements of Poll had been submitted, according to the GECOM Chairman; and as Lowenfield prepared to announce the Region 10 results, the crowd shifted yet closer, somewhat unconsciously, I presume, towards the television.

Lowenfield said 16,791 persons in Region 10 had cast valid votes for the coalition, and news of the PPP/C only receiving 2,785 votes unleashed yet another short-lived but gleeful outburst.

The figures for all 10 regions had been announced, but they had still not yet been consolidated, as Lowenfield somewhat gloatingly built the tension. Seconds ticked away. Many could be seen quickly trying to calculate, ahead of the announcement.

With each listener hanging on to Lowenfield’s every word, the GECOM CEO said APNU+AFC had secured 206, 817 votes; the IP 338 votes; NIP 516; and the PPP/C, 201… That was as far as he got! APNU+AFC supporters had heard enough to know that their Presidential Candidate, Brigadier (rtd) David Arthur Granger, was thousands of votes ahead, however preliminary the announcement; and this was enough to ignite wild celebrations!

The PPP/C in fact secured 201,457 votes, more than 5,300 votes less than the coalition; the TUF’s 880; and the URP’s 338 votes; but this didn’t matter to the APNU+AFC supporters as the celebrations began.
UNSHACKLED & FREE
“We are free! Freedom! We have finally been delivered! Jesus, Lord, You are mighty! The shackles have been broken!” were but some of the exclamations of praise emanating from the lips of young and old, male and female; not to mention that there were Guyanese of each ethnic variation, including the never mentioned ‘dougla.’

Tears of joy could be seen streaming down the faces of those who had gathered. Friends embraced each other, and strangers turned to strangers with hugs, smiles, kisses, and all forms of triumphant embraces and gestures.

It mattered not who was embraced. There was a common bond of camaraderie among those that celebrated, in that they had, in some way or another, played a role in removing the PPP/C from Office, a feat that took 23 long years to accomplish.

Curious passers-by in vehicles were quickly alerted to the reason behind the celebrations, and they reacted in kind. Car horns began to blare in a cacophony of jubilation as supporters of the coalition learnt of what was, for them, a valid enough announcement as a final declaration.

THE jubilation briefly subsided outside of the coalition’s headquarters for a word of prayer in recognition of divine intervention sought in achieving the feat. After a few hymns, the jubilation was too much to contain, and people descended on the premises by the hundreds within minutes, literally screaming, seemingly feeling vindicated at having cast their ballots in support of the coalition on Monday last.

ELECTIONS RIGGED
Head of State, Donald Ramotar, has however not taken the news lightly. He has since lashed out at the international observers, all of whom had declared that the elections process had been free and fair. President Ramotar has charged that there was rigging in the process, and he has since demanded a recount of every single ballot cast across the country.

Word of this threat did little to subdue the elation which was spreading like wildfire. The coalition’s flags were by this time draped across vehicles, as horns blared ever more frequently. Ever so often, an impromptu motorcade criss-crossed the streets of Georgetown with the common chant: “Granger! Granger! Granger! Granger!”
ACCEPT RESULTS/MOVE ON
The diplomatic community and other stakeholders quickly issued statements, urging all parties to accept the results and move forward with a peaceful transition.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC), in its missive to the media, said it welcomed the release of the results of the General and Regional Elections of 2015 by GECOM.

According to the Private Sector umbrella body, “We urge all parties to accept these results… We have every reason to believe that the results reflect the will of the people of Guyana… We urge the leaders to move forward in a spirit of unity, trust and reconciliation, as we continue to build our beloved Guyana.”

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Nations’ Observer Group, headed by former New Zealand Minister of Government Kate Wilkinson, in reaction to the GECOM announcement, said: “We congratulate the Guyana Elections Commission for releasing the preliminary results of voting as soon as they could…. We encourage the people of Guyana to continue to display patience and restraint whilst awaiting the final declaration of election results.”

In face of the countrywide celebrations following the GECOM announcement, APNU+AFC did issue a formal statement, wherein it called on all Guyanese to remain calm and respectful, “even as we await the official declaration of results of the 2015 elections and the swearing in of David Granger as the next President of Guyana.”

According to the coalition, the preliminary results, as announced by GECOM, “demonstrate that we have come together as Guyanese to elect a Unity Government that will represent the rights of all…We call on Guyanese who are celebrating this victory to do so respectfully and within the ambit of the laws of the land.”

By Gary Eleazar