…Coalition says GECOM must act exclusively on valid votes

THE Chief Elections Officer’s (CEOs) report which has assessed all 2,339 ballot boxes in the national recount exercise and which, according to law, takes into consideration votes verified as validly cast, must form the basis upon which an election declaration is made.

This was the message of the APNU+AFC on Friday in which it called on the public to respect the country’s Constitution and Laws which speak to these matters. The party said that while the Recount Report of the CARICOM Scrutinising Team acknowledged the occurrence of anomalies, discrepancies and irregularities in the limited 18 per cent of the ballot boxes it reviewed, the CEO’s report presents a complete documentation of wrongdoings which occurred and which wrongdoings cannot form the basis of credible elections.

Furthermore, with the matter of the elections matter before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the party reminded that the Court of Appeal has already ruled on the basis upon which an elections declaration must be made and its ruling is final.

The Court of Appeal had ordered that the words “more votes are cast” in Article 177 (2) (b) to be interpreted to mean “more valid votes are cast” which meant that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) could only declare elections results based on valid votes cast.

The Court of Appeal also determined that a final credible count, as contemplated by Order No. 60 of 2020, does not mean a mere numerical tabulation of votes but an assessment of the credibility of votes as contemplated by the Order.

The APNU+AFC reminded that according to Article 177 (4) of the Constitution: “The Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a President in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution; and any decision of that Court under this paragraph shall be final.”

Furthermore, though injunctive reliefs were sought to restrain the CEO from submitting to the Elections Commission an election report, the Court made it clear that in its narrow and special jurisdiction, as laid out in Article 177 (4), it was not within the jurisdiction of the Appellate Court to grant such injunctive relief.

The CEO therefore submitted his report to the GECOM Chair based on votes which could be verified as validly cast and this was followed by the move of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic PPP/C to the CCJ to have single order granted by the Court of Appeal struck out on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case.

However, maintaining its position based on Article 177 (4), the APNU+AFC said that though the Opposition dislikes the CEO’s Elections Report which only considers valid votes, the Constitution makes it clear that only the CEO can advise the GECOM Chair on such matters.

The party pointed to Article 177 (2) which states that “[the] Presidential candidate shall be deemed to be elected as President and shall be so declared by the Chairman of the Elections Commission acting only in accordance with the advice of the Chief Election Officer, after such advice has been tendered to the Elections Commission.”

The coalition party concluded that the CEO has acted in accordance to the Representation of the People Act, the Constitution and the Court’s ruling. “The CEO, clearly, is empowered and instructed by the Constitution and Laws of Guyana, not by any other entity or person. He has discharged his functions within the ambit of the law,” the APNU+AFC indicated.
Meanwhile, it called on the Guyanese public to keep themselves informed on what are the guidelines of the Constitution and laws with which the Commission must act within for the presentation of credible elections results.

“The APNU+AFC Coalition has iterated its preparedness to abide by the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Representation of the People Act which provides for the declaration of the Elections Commission,” the party stated, adding: “The APNU+AFC Coalition calls the public’s attention to the comment of former Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Professor Duke Pollard, in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper of 11th June 2020, asserting that the Elections Commission is bound to produce credible elections results and that it cannot submit to the country information which lacks integrity: ‘If the information provided for the outcome is not credible, then the outcome itself could not be credible’.