Accept defeat gracefully – Jagdeo tells APNU/AFC

…constant false claims a turn-off from power-sharing
…says PPP will not be bullied

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has urged the coalition to accept the defeat it knows it was dealt, gracefully, so that there can be genuine talks of power-sharing and the country can move forward.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Jagdeo made these pronouncements on Saturday, during a virtual broadcast press conference. He noted that A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change’s (APNU/AFC) many unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud are not only slowing down the ongoing recount but also alienating his party from joining with them to talk about power-sharing.

Caretaker President David Granger

Jagdeo highlighted cases where APNU/AFC raised many unproven objections to the point where they objected to their own votes at Belladrum, West Coast Berbice (WCB), to show the lengths the party is going to discredit the elections they previously blessed as free and fair.

Caretaker Prime Minister
Moses Nagamootoo

He also recalled the many faux pas committed by APNU/AFC agents, including one agent admitting that they were making objections based on hearsay rather than evidence and instances where the media disproved the claims made by the coalition.
“They talk about joint Government. You think anyone would want to sit in the same Government with some of these guys who are making such patently false allegations and throwing the country in turmoil. There’s no gracefulness about this group in defeat. No acceptance that they’ve lost the elections,” the Opposition Leader said.
He added that “they just want to start trouble, to secure a place in a future Government. They must be misreading the PPP by now. We can’t be bullied. We can be reasoned into issues but we can’t be bullied into anything. We won’t stand for that. Your history would testify to that.”

History
This ‘history’ is believed to be a reference to the days President David Granger refers to as the troubles after the 2001 elections. Political analysts have long opined that these troubles were politically instigated in nature, designed to pressure the then PPP Government into power-sharing. The coalition’s own failure to get to the bottom of ‘the troubles’ during their time in office has only raised more questions.
According to Jagdeo, “So if they believe this approach is endearing them to the leadership of the PPP when they talk about joint governance, then they’re very very wrong. Bunch of lies… and the only place they find favourable media in is the [State media].”
“All the other independent newspapers have been pointing out that… there is evidence of fraud, not on the part of anyone else but [Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont] Mingo,” Jagdeo also said.
He also went on to urge senior figures in APNU/AFC to exercise leadership in the current circumstances of COVID-19. According to him, the coalition, by virtue of the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in their possession, must have seen what the election results are.
“We don’t have leadership, we have to fix this quickly. We have these de facto Ministers. But they must have seen by now they lost the elections… the longer we take to settle this matter, it’s even worse for all our people,” he said.
“I say all people because even those who voted for APNU are feeling the squeeze from an inept Government and the undemocratic path they took us down for the last several months. And their refusal to be graceful in defeat.”

Fictitious
Since the recount began, APNU/AFC agents have made a slew of objections against some of the electors, claiming that they were either dead or out of the country. Despite constant requests for proof, the party has failed to provide proof of dead/migrated voters for whom ballots were issued.
In the case of Belladrum, an APNU/AFC agent objected on the grounds that the persons, whom he identified by the corresponding GECOM serial number, were, in fact, out of the country.
It was eventually discovered that the ballot box in question contained 250 votes for APNU/AFC while the PPP had only gotten three votes from that constituency while two other parties contesting the District secured a combined total of three. It would mean that the APNU/AFC agent could only be objecting to at least 19 votes cast for the APNU/AFC.
There were separate reports of a similar nature, including one where an APNU/AFC agent objected to a vote that was cast by an individual who turned out to be an open supporter of the coalition, as evidenced by photographs of the person gyrating on stage at an APNU/AFC rally.
The APNU/AFC agent at the counting station had earlier in the exercise made an objection, claiming that the person had, in fact, migrated. The Region One resident was later found to have never left the country.
Additionally, APNU/AFC reports that a couple from Berbice, who was listed as voted on Elections Day but were not in the country, turned out to be fictitious when media reports surfaced that the couple was, in fact, in the country and spent the day at home after voting.
Meanwhile, the PPP has been pointing out the fact that the recount has so far closely matched their SoPs which they had released to the public. Those SoPs show the PPP with a sizeable victory margin. APNU/AFC has for some time refused to release their own SoPs, despite claiming victory in their own right.