THE US Department of State has noted the stubbornness of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition Government to give up power after they lost the March 2, 2020 elections, in its 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices.
Prior to the elections, the APNU+AFC Government had lost a no-confidence motion in Parliament in December 2018. The lost meant that elections should have been held in three months as provided for in the Constitution. The Coalition had initially accepted defeat but later challenged the motion all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice, where it lost the case.

After the long delay, Elections were set for March 2, 2020. The US Department of State noted that the Coalition lost the elections but sought to contest the results, leading to numerous rounds of litigation before finally accepting defeat.
This happened five months after the March 2, 2020 regional and general elections.
“The APNU+AFC Coalition’s refusal to accept the elections result that showed their loss created a five-month post-elections impasse, which included a national recount, refusal to accept the results of the recount, and litigation in the Caribbean Court of Justice, the country’s court of final instance. The PPP/C won by a margin of 15,000 votes against the APNU+AFC Coalition, and Mohamed Irfaan Ali of the PPP/C was installed as President on August 2,” a summary of the US Department of State report stressed.

The elections resulted in the return of the PPP/C to Government after a five-year hiatus from a previous 23-year administration.
“National and regional elections took place in March, and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won both the presidency and a majority of representational seats. International and local observers considered the elections free and fair,” the report stated.
Before the no-confidence motion and the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections, the electorate went to Local Government polls in 2018. The APNU and the AFC had contested the Local Government Elections separately and the results showed a significant decline in support for both of them.