…raises concern over national security, safety of state assets

GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday, asked the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to safeguard the assets of the State as the nation awaits a decision of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on the results of the General and Regional Elections.

Jagdeo, who was accompanied by PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali, PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate, Mark Phillips and PPP/C Executive Member, Anil Nandlall, met with the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, DSM at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary on Wednesday. The PPP/C had requested an urgent meeting with the Police Commissioner to discuss its security concerns.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting, Ali told reporters that there were three primary concerns – cyber bullying and racially-hostile statements; the protection of state assets and the need to maintain law and order following the declaration of the results by the Elections Commission.

According to Ali, it is important for the Police Force to safeguard and secure the assets of the state. “You would recall that in 2015, there were police officers stationed at every ministry, and department, while the transition was taking place, so we raised this with the Commissioner,” Ali said. According to him, the Police Commissioner assured the PPP/C that the systems will be put in place to secure state assets and documents.

Further to that, the Police Force, according to Ali, is actively monitoring the political climate in the country in light of the current electoral challenges that have arisen since Guyanese went to the polls on March 2, 2020. “The Commissioner has assured us that they are actively monitoring the situation; they are gathering intelligence; they are securing information to deal with any such threat, if it arise,” the PPP/C presidential candidate said.
Another issue that was placed on the table was that of cyber-bullying and the issuance of racially hostile statements. According to him, the PPP/C has received reports of “racially hostile statements” uttered by persons on social and mainstream media.

“We asked the Commissioner what systems are in place to deal with this, to ensure that there is monitoring and to ensure that action is taken against such persons. The Commissioner responded that he has systems in place, they are actively monitoring what is happening, and they have compiled a list of breaches, and they have sent that list for legal advice in relation to the statements made on social media,” he detailed.

Notably, though the PPP/C, in recent days, had accused the Police Commissioner of providing the Guyana Elections Commission with false information on a list of Guyanese, who were reportedly out of the jurisdiction on Elections Day, the matter, according to both Ali and Jagdeo did not surface. The Police Force Immigration Department, through the Police Commissioner, had confirmed that 172 persons from a list of 207 were out of Guyana on Elections Day, and therefore could not have voted, though, their names were reportedly marked off as having voted. The matter is actively engaging the attention of the Elections Commission, chaired by Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.

According to Ali should he be elected to office, he would move the country forward. Even as the Elections Commission completes the other stages of the electoral process, in accordance with the Order, Jagdeo contended that, based on Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution, the head of the List of Candidates with the most votes is deemed the President and shall be declared President by the Chair of GECOM. While the Statements of Recount (SORs), which were generated and tabulated at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) secured 233,336 votes, and the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU+AFC), 217,920 votes; the recount also unearthed massive irregularities and alleged cases of electoral fraud, which, according to the APNU+AFC, have compromised 90,000 votes.