-Chote assures as elections CoI closes; says commissioners should consider secondary evidence from the international community
– final report to reach President within seven months

EMPHASISING that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections does not have a political agenda, Senior Counsel Sophia Chote of Trinidad and Tobago, has urged the commissioners to scrutinise documents and other pieces of evidence that are in the possession of international observers.

Just before the CoI wrapped up its public hearings on Friday, Chote summed up all of the evidence that was presented.

Noting that six representatives from political parties had given evidence before the commission, she stated that the CoI does not have a “political agenda.”

“These people were adversaries for the 2020 elections. But yet when they come to give you the evidence, there is a remarkable coincidence in the account of what they have presented to you,” she told the tribunal.

She urged the commissioners to pay attention to the “live” evidence that was before it.

“I think we can safely put aside any question about political affinity in the conduct of this commission in its inquiry, and certainly in its analysis of the evidence, and its report…,” she added.

In her closing address, Chote said that while Chairman Stanley John and commissioners — former Chancellor, Carl Singh and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith have a lot of evidence to consider from the many witnesses who testified, they should also look at the reports of the international observers.

“…We have secondary evidence which may assist you…Documents such as the reports of the observer missions who were here…Significantly, we have reports from the Carter Centre, the OAS and the CARICOM,” Chote said.

She said that the CoI was provided with details of how some GECOM employees participated in the suspected plot to divert votes to the APNU +AFC instead of safeguarding the electoral system.

Additionally, witnesses had testified about the actions of Lowenfield, Myers, Mingo and Livan during the vote count. Some of the GECOM employees are before the court on electoral fraud charges.

Further, she said that the CoI was provided with details of how some GECOM employees participated in the suspected plot to divert votes to the APNU +AFC instead of safeguarding the electoral system.

During the hearings, the CoI was told that GECOM staffers ignored specific instructions from the court, used materials that were illegal and or manipulated, and sided with APNU+AFC agents to berate observers whenever objections were raised.

Some of the “high-quality” witnesses were members of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), other political parties, former Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Captain Gerald Gouveia and police officers.

Former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence; APNU+AFC activist Carol Smith-Joseph; APNU+AFC-appointed commissioner on the Local Government Commission (LGC), Nicola Denise Trotman; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; his Deputy Roxanne Myers, former GECOM District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; and GECOM staff members Sheffern February, Denise Babb-Cummings, Carolyn Duncan, Enrique Livan and Michelle Miller, along with Senior Superintendent, Phillip Azore, all opted to remain silent and not testify before the CoI.
Smith-Joseph has been named by witnesses testifying before the CoI as one of the persons who threatened to stomp attorney Pauline Chase, an observer representing the Bar Association, in the face, and also threatened to spit in the face of private sector representative, Kit Nascimento.

Joseph had also told diplomats from the ABCE countries to “get the f– out of Guyana.”

Testimony was also provided that Dr Cummings had received a call and then passed that phone onto Myers during an encounter at the Ashmin’s building, the headquarters of the Region Four Returning Officer where the final tabulation was taking place.

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Chote used the opportunity on Friday to commend those who came forward and did their “civic duties.”

She said that the CoI’s “lone star” is Assistant Registration Officer Alexandra Bowman, who must be commended for her bravery.

Additionally, she singled out Rosalinda Rasul, who served as an elections observer for the American Chamber of Commerce Guyana (AmCham), who had provided the CoI with “on-the-ground” evidence of what happened during the elections.

“… She was clearly a witness who was intelligent, articulate, [and] familiar with the process. In terms of hours spent at the sites in question. She was there for almost all of it. She had a large body of contemporaneous material which she had documented from 2020.

“ She had recorded times when things occurred and I think she gives a good starting point to look at the evidence,” Chote said.

She said that “two juggernauts” in the political race – PPP/C and APNU+AFC both had Statements of Poll (SOPs).

According to Chote, everything went well until March 4, 2020, when Mingo did not show up to the command centre to restart the counting of the votes.

“There is no word from him. There is no account for his absence. There is no indication as to when he will be there…

What we then have is a convoluted process of delay, changes in procedure, a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability and deliberate manipulation of the process to make it as opaque as possible,” she said.

Tracking back through the evidence, Chote said that Rasul told the CoI that Myers had informed everyone that Mingo was ill.

However, shortly after Myers returns and said that Mingo is “feeling better” and that the tabulation process will restart upon his arrival.

“What happens over the next two days is quite frankly, nothing short of bizarre. Don’t think any other would appeal to the mind of a reasonable person looking back. There’s really no reasonable and lawful explanation for what took place over the next two days,” she said to the commissioners.

DANGEROUS

In her comprehensive submission, she said that there was so much compassion, and physical capacity for transparency at the command centre, but “the actions of those who wanted to pervert the court of law, turning GECOM into a dark and opaque place…could have led to very serious consequences for this country.

“I hope those who decided to take such actions as they did have by now recognised how dangerous what they did was to the legal and social and moral fabric of Guyana,” she underscored.

Turning her attention back to Mingo, who had vacated his duties, Chote said there was a broken line of authority from Lowenfield and his deputy, Myers, who kept interfering with the independent process.

Among other things, she said that there was “little cohesion” between the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (retired) Claudette Singh and party commissioners.

On the issue of the infamous flash drive’ fiasco, Chote said that Bowman testified about receiving the device from Livan with the pre-populated spreadsheet without her knowledge.

“There was a departure from the process and there was no explanation to the employee why this was done,” she said. Other witnesses testified to seeing Livan with the laptop and his computer.

The Trinidadian lawyer said that while reviewing the evidence she wondered why Former Attorney General Basil Williams did not step in and help, especially when the Constitution was being infringed.

“Nobody with legal authority intervenes to try to get this train back on track. No, but what we have instead, to say what [had] gone from bizarre to absurd… [was] for an Attorney General, who is a legal adviser to the then government to say to all those who guarded, be it international and otherwise, that these numbers are subjective is nothing short of absurd.

“The rights of voters, the rights of electors on that night were not protected by those legal entities and officials who had the authority to protect them,” Chote said.

The CoI commenced hearing back in November 2022.

According to the Terms of Reference, the commissioners will make recommendations as deemed fit and necessary to permit GECOM to discharge its statutory functions as prescribed by the Representation of the People Act.

Upon completion of the CoI, the commission will present “its report, findings and recommendations” to the President, in writing, within seven months.

Guyanese, after casting their votes on March 2, 2020, had to endure a five-month wait for the results of the elections, as they witnessed alleged unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.

During this time, the patience of the electorate was tested, as electors observed what were described as attempts by the then APNU+AFC administration to rip the democratic fabric of the nation with “delay tactics” which were openly criticised by Caribbean leaders and international observers.

It was only after the legal challenges and international intervention that a national recount of all votes cast was convened and the figures showed that the PPP/C had received 233,336 votes, while the APNU+AFC coalition got 217,920 votes.