THERE is irrefutable evidence that the PPP/C assisted voter-fraud, including multiple voting and vote-buying in hinterland communities and coastal Guyana.

Some of these areas include Toevlught/Patentia, Diamond, Mon Repos, Lancaster, Mahaica, Ann’s Grove and Parika. It appears as though the PPP/C had hoped to sabotage GECOM and claim collusion between GECOM and the incumbent coalition government. The PPP/C banked on international pressure resulting from lobbying work; it had hired Mercury Public Affairs, a United States-based entity of questionable repute (Mercury is listed by the FBI as a co-conspirator in Russian interference in the 2016 USA elections), to undertake lobbying on its behalf.

The PPP/C’s attempts to prevent a recount may be understood if one accepts that a recount and forensic audit of the results of the March 2, 2020 elections will reveal the PPP’s attempts to rig the process, sabotage GECOM and undermine Guyana’s democracy and by extension, its sovereignty.

There was unprecedented transparency during the last elections. GECOM has twice tabulated the results for Region Four and the other regions. On the second occasion, the SOPs for Region Four were displayed on a screen, while the results were entered into the spreadsheet in front of party and other observers. Still, the PPP/C and its proxies claimed a lack of transparency when they realised that they were losing.

In the last weeks, everyone would have observed numerous PPP/C attempts to frustrate the preparation of the national recount, aided by some civil society organisations and friendly media outlets. Those attempts include propaganda; unreasonable demands for live-streaming; removal of senior officials; arbitrary starting of the recount with Region Four; requests for expensive observers, etc. Obviously, any party claiming it has won the elections would welcome a full recount and not attempt to stop it. Perhaps the PPP/C prefers to frustrate the recount and audit because evidence of their rigging attempts will be found.

The PPP/C have been the real riggers since 1997. In that year, the PPP/C held a parliamentary majority. They voted to make possession of a valid ID card a requirement to vote, contrary to the Constitution. The High Court received an Elections Petition by Ester Perreira, a PNC supporter. After two years of hearings, the court ruled that the ID card requirement was unlawful. The court found that about 30,000 persons, some one-tenth of Guyana’s eligible voters, were disenfranchised by the illegal requirement.

Before Mrs. Janet Jagan was sworn in as President, an injunction was sought by the PNC to: (a) prohibit the swearing in of Mrs. Jagan, and (b) prohibit Mrs. Jagan from assuming office, and/or assuming the duties of office. The injunction could not have been heard by the court because the PPP/C had already secretly sworn in Mrs. Janet Jagan, even as a recount was in progress. After the 2006 elections, the Alliance For Change (AFC) discovered that the results had left out thousands of votes. When they presented the evidence to the then disgraced Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of GECOM Mr. Gocool Boodhoo, he wrote to the press alleging that, “the Presiding Officers made a lot of mistakes and that the AFC must not worry itself, everything will be alright.” The AFC never received their due parliamentary seat.

In was also in 2006 when the first fake SOP was found in the IT Department of GECOM by officials and an opposition commissioner. At the time, the Chairman of GECOM Dr. Surujbally requested an investigation, noting that it will require empirical analysis to determine how and where the fake SOP entered the system.

In 2011, Mr. Boodhoo again attempted to rob the AFC of a parliamentary seat by giving the seat to the PPP/C which gave that party a parliamentary majority. Mr. Boodhoo, attempted to pass this off despite results showing that the AFC and APNU had received a combined 9,000 votes more than the PPP/C. Some six months after the 2011 elections, Mr. Steve Surujbally remarked that Mr. Boodhoo made a “human error.” What Surujbally did not say was that this was not Boodhoo’s first “human error.”

On to 2015. Several fake SOPs got into the electoral system and into the IT department of GECOM. Those fake SOPs were discovered by Mr. Vincent Alexander, a GECOM Commissioner. The IT Division was shut down after the discovery, but remember the department had been fully operational during the 2006 and 2011 elections. The fake SOPs discovered in 2015 continued the corrupt trend of 2006 and 2011.

And, we get to March 2, 2020. While GECOM was still undertaking tabulation of results, the PPP/C began publishing election results of its own. The PPP/C also published some SOPs the party claimed its agents had photographed at polling places, some even before the close of polls on Election Day; how is this possible when SOPs are posted outside polling places after completion of all procedural tasks at the place of poll? Sometimes this takes several hours. This was evidently an attempt to influence public opinion, and call into question GECOM’s credibility in the overall results, and those of Region Four in particular.

Incredibly, PPP/C representatives carrying partially concealed and visible firearms stormed the GECOM Command Centre at approximately 2:30am on the night of March 4, 2020. An even larger group invaded the Command Centre in the afternoon of March 5. Clearly, the PPP/C are the actual riggers and fraudsters with over 20 years of experience; the evidence is unequivocal, conclusive, and final.