–Dr Jagdeo says amidst delay in electoral fraud case
AS Guyanese grow more frustrated with the steady delays in the trial which surrounds the allegations of electoral fraud in 2020, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has called on the magistracy to let justice prevail.

During a press conference at the party’s headquarters, he said: “The judiciary here, the magistracy is frustrating the will of the people. They are not allowing justice to be done, and they are undermining governance in this country.”

Dr Jagdeo went on to say: “I think you need a serious introspection by the judiciary itself because it’s a separate branch of government and whatever we say sometimes publicly, others may want to misrepresent as an attempt by the executive to encroach on the territory of the judiciary.”

While addressing the “serious matter” and the damning results of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections, Dr Jagdeo said that there has been a “merry-go-round.”

The PPP General Secretary also firmly remarked that people are “tip-toeing” around the issue because they are worried about it. He said it is time the matter be addressed “legislatively” because maybe then the weight of public opinion can be brought.
With the steady delays, Dr Jagdeo said that this would “embolden” persons who attempt to execute electoral rigging.

“We’re not saying that we want the persons convicted or not, we are asking for you to proceed with the trial,” he said.
The much-anticipated trial surrounding allegations of electoral fraud faces yet another delay, this time with key issues in the case being referred to the High Court for ‘constitutional’ consideration.

On Wednesday, Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes, who is one of the lawyers representing the cast of characters involved, regurgitated his previous arguments and told the court again that Section 142 of the Representation of the People’s Act obstructs a fair trial for his clients.

People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Health Minister under the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO, Roxanne Myers; former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; and GECOM employees, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller are accused of a number of offences, including misconduct in public office, uttering forged documents, and plotting to deceive the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes.

It is alleged that the defendants inflated or facilitated the inflation of results for Region Four, the country’s largest voting district, to give the APNU+AFC coalition a majority win at the March 2020 elections, when, in fact, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won by over 15,000 votes.

Underlining the constitutional intricacies at play, Hughes highlighted that his clients like Mingo, Myers, and Lowenfield were acting on directives from GECOM, underscoring the necessity of obtaining records to effectively challenge testimonies.

In a concurrence, Magistrate Daly acknowledged her jurisdictional limitations in handling constitutional matters and referred the case to the High Court for thorough consideration.
As a result, the court will reconvene on April 2, 2024, and await the High Court’s determination on fundamental questions related to fair hearings and access to GECOM’s minutes.