SOME 30 regional and international agencies will be approached by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) with detailed dossiers evidencing what the party maintains were rigged elections that produced a “de facto” government.
This was according to the PPP/C leader and presidential candidate at the 2015 elections, Mr Donald Ramotar, at a news conference held yesterday at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown. Also present were several former government ministers, party members and PPP/C candidates fielded at the elections.
He noted that the regional and international authorities will be informed of the PPP/C’s position, which details its concerns about the results declared last Saturday, supported by evidence.
He stressed that the government of the day does not reflect the will of the Guyanese people, considering the myriad of irregularities in the electoral process.
These include: the discovery of falsified Statements of Poll (SoP); the refusal of GECOM to have public vetting of polling day staffers, many of whom were discovered to be activists of the political Opposition; misdirection by some GECOM staffers who had advised voters; incidents of multiple voting; incidents when persons turned up at polling stations and were told they had voted already; damaged stamps that saw some ballots not being properly stamped; the fact that persons without identification cards were allowed to vote, even though their images did not match those in the files of GECOM staff; and the denial of proxy holders to use their proxies, among others.
On these bases, recounts were requested before and after the official declarations were made, but these were rejected. Also not yet granted was the PPP/C request for the SoPs, Tally Sheets and a breakdown of results of each Polling Division or ballot boxes.
Recounts as well as the release of the SoPs, Tally Sheets and a breakdown of results of each Polling Division or ballot boxes are still being demanded by the PPP/C.
The delay in the latter request, according to Mr Ramotar, is worrying, given the possibility for “further manipulations.”
However, he insisted that the PPP/C will continue its struggle to ensure that the voice and votes of the Guyanese people who supported the party will be heard and counted.
The PPP/C leader added that once the votes are recounted, it will show that his party won the 2015 General and Regional elections by a majority.
A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) scored a close 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.
Former president Dr Bharrat Jagdeo echoed similar sentiments and stated that GECOM has been the “sole source” of the problem at hand.
He said, “They [the regional and international community] must know they have a government today that is formed not on the basis of the free expression of the will of the people of this country, but that they have been cheated.
“…we plan to internationalize this issue, to go to every corner of the world so that everywhere a government official shows up from this country, people would know that this government official does not represent the will of the people of Guyana.”
Meanwhile, General Secretary of the PPP, Clement Rohee, underscored the fact that the party stands united and committed to the cause and to working together as a “solid block” to advance its protestations regarding its objections to the final results of the 2015 General and Regional elections.
Vigilance, in addition to commitment and unity, was another watchword touted by the PPP/C leadership in looking forward. (Vanessa Narine)