…that no meeting scheduled for declaration of results

THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has given its assurance that it will not flout the laws of Guyana, and that no meeting was called to declare the results of last Monday’s general and regional elections.

In a statement on Sunday, GECOM said that as the constitutional agency responsible for the conduct of General and Regional Elections in Guyana, it is cognisant of the series of events which unfolded since the close of the polls on Elections Day, March 2, 2020. According to GECOM, while it is unfortunate how things have escalated, it is their intention to abide by all legal and procedural requirements to conclude their work.
The Commission noted that on Thursday, March 5, 2020, a mandatory injunction was granted against it and Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, as a consequence of which the finalisation of its work was impeded.

GECOM clarified that contrary to reports that the CEO had tried to bypass the court proceedings by scheduling a meeting to declare the results of the elections, what he’d in essence done was apprise the Chairman that his report on the subject at hand was ready so that she could convene a meeting with the Commissioners at her convenience.
“In relation to this matter, no meeting was scheduled. GECOM remains resolute in the fulfillment of its constitutional and statutory obligation,” GECOM stated.

The letter Lowenfield reportedly wrote GECOM Chair Justice Claudette Singh and copied to all six Commissioners reads: “Dear Madam Chair, I have received declarations from Returning Officers for General and Regional Elections 2020 from Districts 1 – 10. In accordance with Cap 1: 03 Section 99, I have prepared the final report for submission to the Commission. In this regard, a request is made for a meeting of the Commission at your earliest convenience.”

Campaign Manager of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), Joseph Harmon said on Friday that the numbers show clearly that the APNU+AFC are well ahead of any of the other political parties following the elections. He’d also said that the next step should be for a declaration to be made by the Commission’s CEO, followed by a meeting of the Commission to confirm the results. Thereafter, he said, the GECOM Chair was expected to send a statement to the Chancellor of the Judiciary who will act to have the President sworn in.

Harmon had said that the Commission was to have met on Friday to conclude the process, when the PPP/C served an injunction on it. Harmon said the Chair of the Commission, Retired Justice Claudette Singh decided she will follow what the court says, and agreed that the procedure for swearing-in will be put on hold and the parties will go to court on Sunday morning where the injunction will be heard. He said the APNU+AFC expects the situation to be treated with some amount of speed.

The total results declared by Returning Officers (ROs) for all 10 Administrative Regions in the Regional Elections show that the ‘Coalition’ government has won the elections by over 7,600 votes. And with Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) being the last set of results to be declared, APNU+AFC jumped ahead on Thursday with 237,140 votes to the PPP’s 229,450.

The long-awaited results for the single outstanding Region was declared on Thursday, indicating that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) gained 77,258 votes in Region Four, while the APNU+AFC gained 136,335. This represents a 59,097 lead for the APNU+AFC in the Region, long known to be one of the Coalition’s strongholds.