—- Alexander, Gunraj say unlikely commission will revert to previous declarations

GUYANA Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Vincent Alexander has stated that it is highly unlikely that the commission will revert to the previous declarations of Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo after the recount is completed.

The issue came up as Mingo’s second declaration— not ruled upon by the court — has been held in abeyance. GECOM Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh had made it clear in April 2020 that the said declarations cannot be replaced until after the recount.
This led the media to question whether Mingo’s declaration, in any case, could supersede the result of the recount. “If the recount is completed, that doesn’t appear to me to be a likelihood,” Alexander said on Thursday in response to the media’s request for clarity

According to the gazetted recount Order, the commission, having already established that one collective declaration will be made at the end of the process, will discuss the 10 regional reports before they are acted upon by Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

Alexander explained: “Based on that discussion we will say to the CEO, now that we’ve seen these 10 reports and expressed our views on these 10 reports, please proceed to the next stage. It’s kind of procedural.”

The Order further states that the commission shall determine whether the CEO uses the data to submit a report, under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, for the general and regional elections to be declared.

Although the Order states that the commission shall make this determination, Alexander said that he does not foresee that there would be a situation the commission would not ask Lowenfield to present the report. He also doubts whether a case could arise whereby the commission would utilise a mixture of the second declaration by Mingo and the recount data.

When it comes to the anomalies realised during the process on which the commission is yet to deliberate, he said that he foresees them being dealt with expeditiously. Speaking subsequently on the matter, opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj said that he believes the opinion is floating about that the Observation Reports coming out of the recount will be used to discredit the recount data.

As such, he stated: “I dare say that the numbers generated by the recount are and will be the results of these elections. There is no room for consideration etcetera. If a contrary position is presented at a time subsequent to now, then I will deal with it. As I stand here, the results of this recount will be the results of the elections.”

On the question of whether the political divide of the commission could lead to a different case, Gunraj said that he prefers not to deliberate on such a matter unless such a case arises. He stated: “The discussions in the commission which we have publicised is that the results of this recount process shall replace those declarations that are currently in the possession of the chair.”