— PM says irregularities uncovered enough to alter credible outcome
PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo has stated that the irregularities uncovered through the national recount process are enough to alter the credible outcome of the elections. Furthermore, he said that the stage was set for such wrongdoings by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In his weekly column, My Turn, the prime minister pointed to the list of irregularities highlighted by APNU+AFC such as ballots cast for the dead and persons who have migrated; persons voting without proper identification; persons voting outside of their districts without employment documents; large numbers of improperly stamped ballots at locations where disciplined services members voted; missing poll books and documents from one polling station being found in the ballot boxes of another.
“These particulars of fraud are sufficient to materially alter the credible outcome of polling, and to render the 2020 elections as being free but not fair,” he stated.
“The 2020 fiasco was long in planning. Most of the domestic plotters and players are well known. Still emerging is the full profile of the hidden foreign hands with strategic political connections. Their interference in the internal affairs of a small but sovereign state will be eventually exposed.”
The PPP/C contracted Mercury Public Affairs — an American lobbying firm — in March 2019 to help run its elections campaign. The firm was embroiled in the probe into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential elections. However, Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo described the move to hire Mercury Public Affairs as “proactive.”
Its services, according to its contract, include but is not limited to representing the party before and arranging meetings with the executive branch and the U.S. Congress, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and think-tanks in connection with issues relating to the elections.
During the subsequent elections, a number of U.S. senators, congressmen and the Department of State maintained pressure on government via tweets and online comments to conduct a transparent recount, although this is in the hands of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)
In turn, the APNU+AFC government noted its concerns about the blurred lines between U.S. observation and interference. They have opted to continue their close monitoring of the unfolding.
In his column, Nagamootoo said that the stage for the occurrence of such irregularities being highlighted through the recount was set months ago when the PPP/C vehemently lobbied against the house-to-house registration and therefore for a bloated Official List of Electors (OLE).
Prior to confirmation of the list, commissioners nominated by the government had argued that under no circumstance could Guyana’s population of 750,000-plus persons produce an OLE of over 660,000, considering that the school-age population is around 200,000.
There were also issues regarding the presence of the dead and migrated on the list and, while efforts were made through the General Registrar’s Office (GRO) to remove some of the dead, the court has ruled that residency is not a requirement for voting in Guyana.
The prime minister stated: “It must have been evident that the PPP, not hopeful of a victory at the polls, was doing everything to frustrate compilation of a credible voters list that was based on new house-to-house registration. It resorted to court challenges, one after the other, resulting in the register not being cleansed of the names of all persons who have died or who have migrated. The final list of electors was bloated, and had some 660,000 names in a population of 750,000. That was a recipe for rigging, which the PPP exploited as the evidence is now showing.”
He also said that in the selection of the new GECOM Chair, the PPP/C put forward names that could not be selected due to their lending support to the PPP/C and some of these individuals have proven such by now joining forces with the party as “united opposition to the Coalition.”
The PM said that it is his belief that the recount process being independently managed by the elections commission before the eyes of all, will bring closure to the irregularities highlighted and inevitably lead to a credible outcome of the elections.
