…says will not stop until Pres. Granger is sworn in for second term
By Naomi Marshall
LINDEN supporters of the ‘A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change’ (APNU+AFC) coalition said that they will continue to protest until President David Arthur Granger is declared President .
This sentiment was expressed by former Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira during a protest on Monday morning in the mining town of Linden. Figueira told this newspaper that the coalition’s supporters are demanding that the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh make a declaration based on the report submitted by Guyana’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield on July 11,2020.
He noted that the CEO has honoured his constitutional obligations and adhered to the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice, which primarily discarded the national recount, hence, it is time for Justice Singh to honour her constitutional obligation by declaring President Granger re-elected through Guyana’s March 2 elections.
Figueira remarked, “We believe this elections saga has gone on for way too long, we are in a crisis with regards [sic] to COVID-19 and more so the money to run the economy is vastly dwindling away and we believe we need a government in place, we need a parliament in place and we believe the chairman must do her bit now, which is going to make a finality to this decision by making the declaration.”
He added, “The Lindeners will continue to protest until a declaration is made. We believe that it is time that President David Granger is sworn in. The evidence suggest [sic] that he won and we are asking the Chairman to swear in the President.”
Gordon Calendar, former Councillor at the Regional Democratic Council, Region 10, stated that the national recount process was found to be illegal, hence, the only polls that are valid are those from March 2, 2020. “The opposition was attempting to win the elections with a set of fraud votes in those ballot boxes and so our chief elections officer would have gone to the constitution and start quoting the constitution, hence, the national recount is not legal,” Calendar said.
Lowenfield on Saturday submitted his Elections Report to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), showing a win for the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
The Elections Report, the third of its kind since the conduct of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, was submitted to the Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh on Saturday at around 11:00hrs by the Chief Elections Officer. It is reflective of the declarations made in March 2020 by the returning officers in the country’s 10 electoral districts.
According to the Elections Report, there were 475,118 valid votes cast at the General and Regional Elections, and of that number, the APNU+AFC secured 236,777 votes, while the PPP/C raked in 229,330. A New and United Guyana (ANUG) received 2,275 votes; Change Guyana, 2,026; the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), 2,569; the People’s Republic Party (PRP), 862; The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) 680; The New Movement (TNM), 246; and the United Republican Party (URP), 353. There were 3,997 rejected ballots.
Based on the valid votes cast in favour of the lists of candidates that contested the elections, the APNU+AFC was allocated 33 seats; the PPP/C, 31; and the Joined Lists – ANUG, LJP, TNM – one seat in the National Assembly. The National Assembly has 65 seats. In submitting his Elections Report, the chief elections officer told the GECOM Chair that his report was consistent with Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution, and the electoral laws governing the country. “It is my understanding that Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution affords the technical officer the right to advise the chairperson of the elections result that ought to be declared. In this regard, I have prepared and submitted the results of the General and Regional Elections in accordance with my statutory and constitutional duties, and all applicable laws,” Lowenfield said in a signed letter to Justice Singh.
