REFUSAL to release the names of polling-day staff to the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) for vetting; the Chief Elections Officer’s (CEO) admission of the existence of falsified Statements of Polls (SoPs); rejected request for recounts; no release of data used to tabulate the election results and other discrepancies flagged in the electoral process, have compromised the integrity of the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

And these grounds, according to PPP/C leader, Mr. Donald Ramotar, premise the Party’s calls for the resignation of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr. Steve Surujbally.
The call was first made on Tuesday following a meeting of the PPP/C Central Committee.

“Notwithstanding that support, the results of the election as declared by GECOM failed to reflect the true will of the Guyanese people,” the PPP/C said.
According to Mr. Ramotar, the newly sworn-in Government of Guyana does not reflect the will of the Guyanese people and in the interest of “legitimacy,” GECOM ought to have acquiesced to the PPP/C’s requests for clarity on the areas of concerns that were raised.
“I think because the elections were rigged in different ways…it was rigged within GECOM itself…it is the wrong basis for which a Government should begin, because the Government does not represent the interest of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Surujbally told the Guyana Chronicle that he will be resigning from the post of GECOM Chairman, but not at the behest of the PPP/C; rather, because of his own physical limitations as defined against the demands of his current post.
“I will resign on my own volition,” he said.
A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) scored a marginal victory in the General and Regional Elections with 207,200 votes, while the PPP/C secured the support of 202,694 Guyanese who cast their votes in support of the party.
The PPP/C began raising concerns the day after voting had been completed and the election results were officially declared some five days after Guyanese went to the polls.

(Vanessa Narine)