— says Attorney-General; PPP/C condemns Harmon’s attack on Chief Justice, judiciary

WITH utter disregard for the COVID-19 guidelines, supporters of the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) on Monday took to the streets of Georgetown to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, C.C.H, S.C., in the Elections Petition, 88 of 2020.

In addition, the supporters also took to Facebook and other social media platforms to express this dissatisfaction, sporting hashtags such as “#CheatedNotDefeated” and even launching personal attacks on the Chief Justice.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., in responding to the unwarranted attack said in the clear light of very little likely success of the election petitions, the leaders of the Coalition are “cruelly misleading their supporters.”

“Any competent lawyer and any reasonable-minded human being, having observed the electoral process, would know that these petitions had very little likelihood of success, any person who has a rational mind would have concluded that,” Nandlall said.

He highlighted that from the inception of the filing of the petitions, supporters of the APNU+AFC were gathered in large numbers in the vicinity of the High Court, where leaders of the party informed them that the petitions would inevitably evict the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government from office.

The scene around the High Court was similar on Monday when scores of supporters and leaders of the party gathered in anticipation of the ruling, after which they expressed their disappointment of same.

“When they were filed [the election petitions] they had a big commotion in front the High Court and announced to the whole world including their supporters that these are the petitioners that will bring the PPP down,” the Attorney-General recalled.

“Knowing full well that neither of them had any reasonable prospect of success, yet they are continuing to put into people’s minds false confidence, misconceived expectations and promising people things that they cannot deliver,” he added.

Nandlall noted that it is seemingly apparent that supporters of the APNU+AFC conveniently criticised the Chief Justice, in making his claim he cited and made a comparison to the case filed by Christopher Jones challenging the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries, which was ruled in favour of APNU just last week by the Chief Justice.

CONVENIENT CRITIC
“The Chief Justice was good then! Today, the Chief Justice has dismissed their petition, the Chief Justice is now a political appointee. So, they are going to continue to tarnish the image and reputation of our judges and the institution called the judiciary, simply because they cannot win a case which has no merit,” he said.

The Attorney-General was particularly pleased with the ruling and he opined that the implications of the decision are very important for the democratic architecture of Guyana and that the decision confirmed that the rule of law is operable in Guyana.

He highlighted that in his humble view, the rulings stemming from the series of elections-related litigation will go a far way in helping to improve and reform the system, as it has shed light on areas that some may feel were ambiguous.

“This decision ought not to surprise any fair-minded person, this decision confirmed what all of us witnessed and was part of, all of us are aware of the difficulties that were attendant to the tabulation of the results for region number four by the use of Mingo, the Returning Officer, of a spreadsheet as the basis of tabulation as opposed to the Statements of Poll (SoPs),” Nandlall said.

He added: “Up to now the APNU+AFC has refused and is refusing to disclose to the public and to the world their SoPs which they claim they have won the elections upon, that by itself should put to rest issues regarding the creditability and authenticity of their claims.”

Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon in a statement to his supporters, expressed disagreement with the Chief Justice’s ruling.

After the ruling, a group of APNU+AFC supporters moved their protest from in front of the High Court to the commercial district of Regent Street, forcing many business owners to close their shops.

The PPP/C in a press release after the ruling “vehemently’ condemned Harmon’s attack on the Chief Justice and the Judiciary, and called upon all Guyanese to dismiss the opposition’s “aggressive posturing as yet another rank attempt to remain relevant and to mislead its supporters.” It also noted that the ruling has vindicated the position of the PPP.