THERE will be no giving up of supporters of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), nor will there be any giving up of the fight to protect the democratic gains secured under Guyana’s oldest political party.“The PPP is not going to just roll over because APNU is threatening violence if the election is not declared in their favour, because it means that this country will not have had a change in government because of free and fair elections because of fear of the threat of violence,” said former president, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, at a news conference last evening.

Held at Freedom House, he used the media engagement to disclose that the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Returning Officers (ROs) are currently engaged in verification of the Statements of Polls (SoPs), in the company of party agents, and a number of additional irregularities have surfaced.
FALSE SoPs COUNTED
According to him, while the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield gave the assurance that falsified SoPs – discovered and acknowledged by the Commission itself – were not counted in the tabulation of the election results, the PPP has evidence to prove otherwise.
He stressed that the controversial SoPs favoured the political opposition by delivering hundreds of votes to A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
The former president explained that on the lower East Coast it was discovered that, relative to one ballot box, the SoP in the PPP/C’s possession and the SoP in the RO’s possession saw a difference of 120 votes, which were given to APNU+AFC.
He highlighted that the SoP in the PPP/C’s possession was signed by several persons, including the party agents for PPP/C and APNU+AFC, as well as by GECOM’s counting agent.
“How did they (SoPs) get into GECOM? How many were used in the tabulation?” Jagdeo queried, adding that these questions must be answered by the leadership of the Commission.
He contends that if such irregularities are uncovered in the verification process alone, how many others will be discovered if there is a recount.
“There must be a full-fledged investigation,” the former president said.
SYSTEMATIC PLOT
He lamented the fact that the SoPs are only one of several concerns of the PPP/C, which have been raised over the last three days.
“The credibility of GECOM is at stake,” Dr Jagdeo said.

The other major concern, the former president said, is the refusal of GECOM to have public vetting of polling day staffers, many of whom were discovered to be activists of the political Opposition.
Dr Jagdeo stressed that this is the first time that GECOM did not give a list of names of the polling day staff to the PPP/C, adding that it was only on Sunday, hours before the May 11 polls, that the PPP/C was in receipt of the list of names.
“It means there has been a systematic plot to change results in GECOM itself and to tabulate those results in favour of APNU…the results were delivered by fraud,” Dr Jagdeo said.
PPP/C CHEATED
Jagdeo stressed that the PPP will not be “cheated out of office” and called for GECOM to launch a full investigation into the many irregularities uncovered. “Finding the truth is simple…we will pursue all of the remedies that are available to us at this point in time to ensure that we are not cheated,” he said.
According to him, the PPP/C “has enough evidence” and will continue to compile additional details that will be sent to GECOM, as well as to international groups.
“Everyone should want to know the truth,” he said.
Dr Jagdeo bemoaned the fact that “real concerns” and evidence are being dismissed “flippantly” by GECOM, among other entities.
The former president gave the assurance that “every avenue” will be pursued to ensure that the will of the Guyanese people and their support for the PPP/C demonstrated through the ballot is protected.
“We will fight tooth and nail,” he stressed.
Once ROs in all 10 regions file their declarations of the final results in the May 11 General and Regional elections, the PPP/C is expected to file a formal request of a countrywide recount of all ballots cast on Monday – in the interest of ensuring the integrity of the process, as well as to ensure that the polls were indeed free and fair and free from fear.

By Vanessa Narine