–AG says at Mon Repos meeting

ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, declared that a return of the A Partnership for National Unity or the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) would pose a grave threat to Guyana’s democratic fabric.

Addressing a packed public meeting of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Nandlall revisited what he labelled “one of the darkest chapters in our post-independence history,” the 2020 elections and the events that preceded and followed it.

He referenced events that followed the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, and former President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of Justice (ret’d) James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“You witnessed for five long months their relentless attempts to rig the elections,” Nandlall told the crowd, which responded with shouts of “yes.”
He added, “You saw how David Granger violated the Constitution when he unilaterally appointed the GECOM Chairperson.”

Several former senior officials have been charged in connection with the alleged electoral fraud surrounding the March 2020 General and Regional Elections in Guyana, including former top officials of GECOM such as the Chief Election Officer, Deputy Chief Election Officer, and the Region Four Returning Officer, as well as a former Health Minister under the APNU+AFC government and a senior People’s National Congress (PNC) official.

Regarding the appointment process for the GECOM chairman, Nandlall explained, “The Constitution says that the President must appoint from a list of six names provided to him by the leader of the opposition.

“The then leader of the opposition, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, gave him, Granger, three lists of six names each, and he rejected every single one. Then, in the darkest night of the Hindu calendar, Diwali night, he secretly appointed his friend James Patterson.”

By appointing Patterson to GECOM, Nandlall asserted that the APNU+AFC had a clear agenda, stating, “The plan was clear, they wanted to rig the 2020 elections, so they had to put someone they could control in that position. We had to go all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice to have Patterson removed and to have his appointment declared illegal and unconstitutional.”
Notably, he reminded that during its tenure, the coalition undermined the Constitution by refusing to resign after the 2018 no-confidence vote, extending their tenure beyond constitutional deadlines, actions that drew widespread international condemnation.

The CCJ—Guyana’s highest court—ruled that the 2018 no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government was valid, leading to the government’s fall and the call for fresh elections.
Nandlall emphasised the importance of constitutional adherence and said that the current PPP/C government under President Irfaan Ali is committed to upholding democratic principles and ensuring the rule of law prevails.

Nandlall said that if the PPP does not win the elections, they will step down from government because they respect the citizens’ right to vote.
The Attorney General also took aim at the opposition’s recent criticisms of the PPP/C government, stating that they lack the moral authority to speak on constitutional matters, given their own history.

Highlighting the flawed history of the APNU+AFC, Nandlall emphasised, “These riggers and fraudsters are still there and to this day, they have not accepted that they attempted to steal 160,000 PPP/C votes during the 2020 elections. Up to now, they have not accepted that they lost the 2020 elections. Up to now, they can’t produce their Statements of Polls (SoPs), yet they are claiming they won the elections.”

The Attorney General argued that the PPP/C government has delivered consistently on its promises, particularly in infrastructure, social services, housing, health, education and job creation.
“You have seen the transformation taking place in your community. On the East Coast of Demerara, we have distributed over 10,000 house lots and houses. We have achieved universal primary education, and we are about to achieve universal secondary education,” Nandlall said.

“The next five years will be focused on creating wealth,” Nandlall said, as he encouraged citizens to support the PPP/C for another term in office from 2025 to 2030.
The Mon Repos public meeting was one in a series of public outreach events hosted by the PPP/C across the country, as the party prepares for the September 1, 2025, elections.