–Jagdeo highlights; convinced that attacks are driven by bitterness because Commission’s Chair stood on the side of the law during 2020 elections

GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, has strongly condemned the ongoing campaign to discredit the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and its Chairperson, Justice Claudette Singh.
At his weekly press briefing on Thursday, Jagdeo said several “fringe” organisations and the political opposition are orchestrating a deliberate campaign to undermine the credibility of GECOM, with the intention of casting doubt on the legitimacy of any future elections conducted by the body.

“I think the motive, should they be able to or should they succeed in destroying the credibility of GECOM, they may be able to cast doubts on any elections conducted by GECOM and so it orchestrated,” the PPP General Secretary said.
He expressed concern that these fringe groups, despite having minimal public support, are using their limited platforms to launch baseless attacks on GECOM and its leadership.
Jagdeo related that many of the organisations exist only on paper, with membership numbers so low that they couldn’t even fill a small room, yet they continue to make bold accusations and garner media attention.
A major target of these attacks, according to Jagdeo, has been Justice Singh.

He noted that her leadership in 2020 played a pivotal role in preventing an “attempted electoral theft” by the opposition APNU+AFC coalition.
“Had the Chair of GECOM not stood up in 2020, APNU would have succeeded in stealing the elections. I think they are bitter about that,” Jagdeo said.
He added: “Several times they were urging the Chair of GECOM to break the law to go against the Constitution of Guyana, to ignore decisions of the court, including the highest court, the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice) and she stood on the side of law and order and on the side of the electorate of the country.”

Guyanese, in 2020, went to the polls and peacefully gave a mandate to the PPP/C to govern. But, after casting their votes, the electorate had to endure a five-month wait for the results of the General and Regional Elections as they witnessed alleged unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.
During this time, their patience was tested, as persons the world over observed what was 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 a wide section of society.
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.

Driven by bitterness because of that outcome, those now challenging the legitimacy of GECOM and its leadership, are deliberately seeking to weaken public trust in the electoral system.
Their accusations connect to the broader efforts by the opposition to delegitimise the 2025 general and regional elections, as they brazenly spur ill-informed narratives.
“They’re very upset because the internal riggers, the people who rigged on their behalf were removed from the secretariat, from the staff and they don’t have a compliant chairperson, like they were hoping to have under Patterson,” he said.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections had found that there was collusion and collaboration between senior GECOM officials to divert votes to the APNU +AFC instead of safeguarding and preserving the integrity of the electoral system.
As it is now, former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning `Officer Clairmont Mingo; former health minister under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government Volda Lawrence; PNC/R activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller are collectively facing 19 conspiracy charges related to alleged electoral fraud.