APNU/AFC Govt must abide by recount results – US Congressmen

…endorse GECOM Chair’s rejection of fraudulent reports

Two United States (US) Congressmen who visited Guyana and met with officials, including caretaker President David Granger, have now made it clear that only the Recount Results can be used to declare the next government; and moreover, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair Justice Claudette Singh was correct in throwing out fraudulent reports submitted to her.

Congressman Albio Sires, a Democrat representing New Jersey, and Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat representing New York, are also respectively the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade.
On Wednesday, they released a statement urging GECOM to promptly declare the results of the March 2nd, polls in order for a democratic transition of government to begin.
The Congressmen, who had travelled to Guyana in January, endorsed the calls being made for the electoral body to move ahead in using the Recount Results as the basis for a declaration.
“We commend the people of Guyana for their remarkable patience over the last four months, but they have waited far too long. GECOM must promptly issue a Declaration of Results and begin the democratic transition process,” the Congressmen said in a statement today.
Their statement came on the same day that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that visa restrictions have been imposed on Guyana Government and elections officials who are engaged in undermining this country’s democracy.
While the two Democratic Congressmen expressed their reservations about the administration’s style, they were emphatic in their support for efforts to achieve a democratic transition of government in Guyana.

“We strongly support the multilateral efforts made to support the people of Guyana throughout this process, which have been led by Caricom and supported by the U.S. Embassy, the European Union, the Canadian and British High Commissions, and the Organization of American States.
“Guyana’s leaders must prioritise national unity and the long-term health of Guyana’s democratic institutions, and abide by the will of the Guyanese people as reflected in the Recount Results,” the Congressmen added.
According to the Congressmen, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), diplomatic missions, and civil society organizations in Guyana have all confirmed that the recount was completed in a professional and transparent manner, providing the basis for a declaration of the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

Fraudulent
They also had harsh words for GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who has consistently submitted every other report except the one the GECOM Chair has asked for, in order to make a final declaration.
“We condemn all efforts to undermine the credibility of the March 2nd election, including recent actions taken by the Chief Elections Officer to effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters and manipulate the vote count.
“We fully support GECOM Chairwoman Claudette Singh’s decision to dismiss all of the Chief Elections Officer’s fraudulent reports, and are confident that she will declare a winner based on the actual vote count, as certified through the Recount Process.
The National Recount had shown that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 217,920. GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, had written to Lowenfield and instructed him to prepare a final report based on the recount.
Instead, Lowenfield had submitted a report invalidating over 115,000 voters based on unsubstantiated allegations of dead and migrant voters made by the APNU/AFC. Lowenfield’s actions caused an immediate uproar, and the varying sides found themselves in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for the Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case.
Among other decisions, the CCJ ruled that Lowenfield’s report, which arbitrarily disenfranchised voters, was invalid, and that the concerns raised by the APNU/AFC coalition must be addressed in an elections petition.
The GECOM Chair wrote Lowenfield again, instructing him to submit his report so that the President could be declared. However, Lowenfield then engaged in a back-and-forth with the Chair in which sections of the CCJ judgement were twisted and misconstrued.
He then submitted a fraudulent report to Justice Singh, in which he included the fraudulent declarations of embattled returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, which inaccurately shows that the PPP/C gained 80,920 votes while the APNU/AFC received 116,941 votes in Region Four.
The inaccuracy of those numbers was widely proven during the recount exercise, as it was unearthed that Mingo had heavily inflated the votes in favour of the APNU/AFC to give them a false victory.
And despite the lack of credibility in Mingo’s numbers, APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones went to court on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling GECOM to use the declarations from the ten Returning Officers, which include Mingo’s, to make a final declaration.
Oral arguments for that case begin on Friday. (G3)