–investigations to commence

THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday made a decision to release documents that purportedly provided proof of voter fraud at the 2020 General and Regional Elections (GRE) as alleged by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

This was revealed by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C. on Tuesday evening during his weekly livestreamed Facebook show, Issues In The News.

The Attorney-General had early last week written GECOM’s Chairman to request the documents that were submitted by the APNU+AFC during the elections process in 2020, which alleged voter fraud in the country.

During the airing of his show on Tuesday evening, Minister Nandlall noted that while this decision was made by GECOM, he’d hoped to receive the documents so as to commence the investigations into the allegations.

“Once I receive them, I will pass them on to the relevant agencies, with the request that an investigation be launched to verify the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the information contained in those documents to inquire into who authored the documents, or who authorised the issuance of the information contained in those documents,” Nandlall said.

The AG added that the Opposition-nominated commissioners at GECOM opposed his request for the documents to be turned over.

This, he said, is amazing, as the Opposition has been repeating the allegations made, and have been relying on those very allegations in their efforts to impugn the 2020 election results.

Nandlall added that now that the government has signalled its interest in requesting the documents for them to be investigated for the truth to be revealed, it is strange to see the political opposition objecting to the request.

“The very people who are peddling the information in that document are now objecting to the document being released so that we can investigate it,” Nandlall expressed.

During last week’s edition of Issues In The News, the legal affairs minister said that the documents that he requested made the claim that deceased persons purportedly voted at the elections, that the elections were tainted by multiple voting, and that persons who were overseas on Polling Day voted at the elections.

He added that the allegations have been peddled in the public domain by the leaders and representatives of the main opposition political party.

The AG indicated that the impression conveyed is that the documents and data obtained to back the claims made were obtained from bodies such as the Immigration Department and General Registrar’s Office.

These agencies, he noted, must be afforded the opportunity to investigate the documents, their authenticity, accuracy, and the accuracy and veracity of the information that they purport to furnish.

In the end, the AG noted that if any laws were violated, they will be enforced by the relevant law enforcement agencies. And if there is evidence to bring criminal charges, those charges will be instituted.