Two of new pollical parties that contested the March 2 elections have rejected the recent calls by the caretaker APNU/AFC to have a dialogue with other political parties and stakeholders on the way for forward for Guyana.
ANUG’s Presidential Candidate Ralph Ramkarran (standing) along with Executive member Timothy Jonas
The caretaker APNU/AFC on Wednesday had said that “…in the national interest, and with a view to maintaining stability and peace, [it] remains open to dialogue with other political parties and stakeholders on the way forward for our country. The APNU+AFC Coalition is prepared to act responsibly to bring a resolution to the ongoing political situation.”
However, in separate statements on Friday, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) both said the only resolution for the country to move forward is for the coalition to concede its defeat at the March 2 elections.
ANUG reminded that the current political and electoral impasse the country finds itself in was the doing of the caretaker regime.
Liberty and Justice Party Leader, Lenox Shuman
“It should be noted that the ongoing political situation they claim to want resolved, is in totality again, their own doing and making. It is nothing short of dishonesty and another display of the duplicitous nature of the leadership of APNU+AFC to say they are prepared to act to resolve a situation, a situation which they have created and is within their power to resolve,” ANUG posited in its missive.
On this note, the party said that if the coalition is in fact prepared to “act responsibly”, then it should firstly concede and allow a new Government to be sworn in.
“If they are indeed prepared to act responsibly, this can be done immediately with the simple act of conceding. To not do so, only demonstrates that the coalition continues to act in bad faith and against the best interest of the nation,” ANUG contended.
Meanwhile, the LJP echoed similar sentiments, noting that the time for dialogue was since December 22, 2018 – the day after the coalition was toppled by a No-Confidence Motion.
The party noted that the caretaker APNU/AFC has shown contempt for Guyana since then by failing to resign immediately and call elections within three months as mandated by the Constitution as well as contempt for the international community as of late by showing the utmost disrespect for anyone who points out their attempts to rig the elections while holding Guyana at ransom.
This, according to the LJP, is a clear demonstration that the coalition is disingenuous, irresponsible and duplicitous.
“It is oxymoronic to be a dictator and want to call yourself a “resistance” when all that you are resisting is the will of the people. The Liberty and Justice Party firmly believes that any dialogue with any dictatorship only serves to legitimise that dictatorship and will “NOT” engage in any such actions at this juncture with the APNU… Should the APNU be genuinely interested in constructive dialogue, conceding that they have lost these elections would be viewed as a genuine first step,” the party asserted.
Both ANUG and the LJP said they will only have a dialogue with a legally elected Government, parliamentary opposition, other political parties and stakeholders in finding a progressive path forward for Guyana with issues such as constitutional and electoral reform high on the agenda.
This, ANUG said, can only be brought about through the declaration of the elections by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) using the votes tallied by the National Recount process, which the leadership of both APNU/AFC and the main political Opposition, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) agreed to.
Already, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has indicated that the People’s Progressive Party will not be having any dialogue with APNU/AFC before the elections declaration is made.
The 33-day recount exercise shows PPP/C with a landslide victory of 233,336 votes while the caretaker coalition obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.
Additionally, ANUG gained a total of 2313 votes while the LJP secured 2657 votes.
The votes obtained by the other new parties that contested the March 2 elections are Change Guyana –1953; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizenship Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.
Meanwhile, in its missive on Friday, the LJP reiterated calls for Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to be removed from his post.
Lowenfield has consistently failed to adhere to the directions of the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, to use the results from the recount process to compile his final elections report. Instead, he has presented several reports with fraudulent figures.
According to LJP, “The responsibility for us as a country being at this juncture politically is a burden that must be shouldered by the PNC and the GECOM Secretariat under the leadership of Keith Lowenfield. He has shown his disregard for the voting public and the Commission by his actions and those actions demonstrate the urgent and immediate need for his dismissal.” (G8)
