It is clear as day that the David Granger-led APNU/AFC Coalition will stop at nowhere in its illegal grab for power. Many are asking when will this all end? The truth is not matter long it takes, we are confident that in the end, democracy will prevail and good will triumph over evil. But Guyanese patience are being put to the test by the team Granger, who seems hell bent to dragging Guyana to the depths of chaos in an effort to remain in power. The court proceedings filed by APNU/AFC supporter in the High Court on Tuesday is another trick in the hat aimed at delaying the inevitable.
But we are living in different times, unlike in the 1960s, 70s and 80s where electoral rigging was allowed to go unnoticed and unpunished. Many powerful leaders and decent human beings all over the world are on the side of the majority. They stand strongly in support of democratic governance and they do not take kindly to governments that hang on to power through fraudulent means.
We have seen the countless statements from powers around the world denouncing Granger and his Coalition for all the strategies they are using to cling to power.
At the moment, the nation is tired and frustrated with the relentless efforts by Granger and his hinge men, to hold to power even though it is clear that the incumbent was defeated at the March 2, polls. We have never seen this level of abuse of the court system by any Government in the history of post-independent Caribbean to hang on to power.
Granger cannot claim that he is oblivious to these attempts to deny the duly elected Government from taking its place. The fact is, the people have spoken by way of their ballots and the PPP/C has won the elections convincingly by over 15,000 votes. No court or institution would ignore this fact and endorse any request to use discredited results to declare a winner.
The APNU/AFC has moved to the Courts in spite of the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) a few days ago fully ventilated all the matters brought to it in relation to the vote recount. In a clear, definitive ruling, the CCJ decided that the recount results must be used as a basis for the declaration of winner and the CEO cannot in any way modify those numbers or decide to apportion votes to political parties on the basis on what is ‘valid’ or ‘invalid’. This is not for him to do; this is a matter for the High Court through an elections petition, after the results are declared and a government is sworn in.
Further, during Monday’s Commission meeting, the Chairperson set aside all ten declarations made by the Returning Officers. This means only the valid results standing are those derived from the national recount.
That said, the actions by the CEO on Tuesday to not submit his report again has the pellucid indicators that he is taking his cue from the APNU/AFC -aligned Commissioners, who, from the inception, have shown that they are bent on frustrating the process.
Understanding the nature of politics in Guyana, this publication has called on the international community to impose personal sanctions on President David Granger and his team among others who are hell bent on seeing Guyana being descended into an undemocratic state.
No logical and decent person will have faith that Lowenfield, who has presented multiple fraudulent reports to the Commission, will present an accurate report this time around, even though he only has the recount figures to work with.
Moreover, the partisan attitude displayed by the GECOM’s DCEO, Roxanne Meyers, leaves no room for confidence that she will also present the right report, nor do it swiftly for that matter.
If the statutory officers – Lowenfield and Myers – fail to carry out their duties, Justice Singh, must act swiftly use the constitutional provisions available to her to declare the correct results so that Dr Irfaan Ali, the head of the List that got the most votes, could be sworn in as Guyana’s 9th Executive President.
We believe that the longer we allow this process to drag on, the more overtures will be made by rogue elements to bring about instability, including abusing the court system, so that Granger can continue illegal reign at the detriment of Guyana.
We had said countless times before and will it say again: the GECOM Chair has the constitutional authority and enjoys the confidence and backing of local, regional and International powers to bring this charade to an end.
