–President Ali on Opposition ‘delay tactics’
–Vice-President Jagdeo describes them as ‘sore losers’

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali has branded the opposition’s call for fresh elections as “utter nonsense,” describing it as playing “games” with the nation’s stability and development.
The President’s emphasised this in an invited comment to the media outside of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), on Friday.
Dr. Ali was responding to the actions taken by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which, in a letter to the Chair of GECOM Claudette Singh, demanded a forensic audit of the electoral data or fresh elections.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” President Ali said.

He also highlighted that the opposition parties lost the election and subsequently demanded a recount; this process ended in less votes for APNU.
The tactics, which have been labelled as an attempt to “delay the inevitable”, show the Guyanese people who is for them and who is not, the President stated.
The Head of State said: “The life of this country is important, and if people continue to see who plays with the life of this country, who plays with the life of the citizens, who don’t care about the citizens and the development of this country.

“We have to keep this country intact and safe. We have to ensure that our international investors are ready to invest, and that we demonstrate to the world that we are a democracy that is credible, which is demonstrated in these elections, but more importantly, that investors’ confidence is always high… and this is just playing games with the country’s life,” President Ali said.
The President further noted that all observer missions, both international and local, have stated that the elections were free and fair.
General and Regional Elections were held on Monday and after polls closed, GECOM publicly uploaded the Statements of Polls (SOPs) for the general public to see, a stark difference to what happened in 2020.

The results of the elections show a resounding victory for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and a second term for President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The process was further delayed on Friday evening after Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners failed to show up for a meeting to certify the results of the elections.
Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo in a comment on Friday said the democratic process had been conducted transparently and fairly. He described the opposition’s attempts to derail the process as baseless and a reflection of “sore losers.”

He also stressed that both local and international stakeholders had already verified the credibility of the elections.
“Why would anyone and GECOM pay attention to such a stupid call? The elections are over. Every international observer group pronounced that the election was free and fair. The whole country has all the SoPs [Statements of Poll]. They asked for a recount; they got the recount,” Jagdeo asserted.

“We are not Granger, rushing to swearing-in before a declaration,” he added, in a clear reference to former President David Granger’s actions during the 2020 elections.
Asked whether arrangements are already underway for the President’s inauguration, Jagdeo said: “Of course, the swearing-in is being planned. We will be stupid not to plan the swearing-in.”
Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, has already said that election disputes must go to Guyana’s Supreme Court.