APNU/AFC refuses to budge on release of SoPs

…claims only recount figures now important
…disputes former Jamaican PM’s aspersions, saying he is a private citizen

Alliance For Change (AFC) General Secretary David Patterson on Thursday while condemning criticism raised by former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, has refused to commit to release the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in the party’s possession, in order to have an independent analysis conducted against the Statements of Recount (SoRs), being generated during the national recount exercise underway at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Patterson gave the coalition’s position on Thursday while speaking with media operatives encamped in the makeshift media centre erected outside the ACCC.
The former Jamaican Prime Minister the previous day had delivered to the Organisation of American States (OAS), as Head of the OAS’ Electoral Observer Mission to Guyana, a scathing attack on the declarations for Region Four by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo for the votes cast on March 2, calling his declaration “fictitious” and a “transparent attempt to alter the election results”.

Patterson on Thursday dismissed the need for the SoPs in their entirety, saying it was the SoRs “that matter now … this exercise is not a question of comparison in my opinion, it is a question of determining a winner and the next government”.
The AFC General Secretary suggested that the coalition did not want to interrupt the recount process by releasing its SoPs, but maintained that the SoRs were confirming its positions.

He reminded that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has in its possession 10 declarations for each of the 10 administrative regions and the Commissioners would have to take a decision on those.
Patterson told reporters that the figures that were called out by ex-Prime Minister Golding did not match up with the figures in the party’s possession.
According to Patterson, the former Jamaican Prime Minister was no longer Head of the OAS EOM and he made the assertions as a private citizen.
In lamenting the adumbrations by Golding, he said the former Jamaican PM did not address the anomalies that were being raised by the coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)/AFC.
He posited it was strange that Golding would “jump right away to impugn the integrity of Mingo and entire GECOM staff without making a fleeting reference to those particular issues”.
Asked repeatedly about his coalition producing its SoPs, Patterson maintained, “the documents now that are most important are SoRs and the comparativeness and the observation reports”.
Despite claiming to never actually seeing the specific numbers that had been declared by Mingo, Patterson told reporters that the numbers coming out of the recount in fact matched those in the party’s possession.
Asked again to produce the figures that his party is making reference to and based upon which it is claiming victory, Patterson told reporters, “what we want to, what we doing, what we want to do is at the end of every district with district one here, we will release our tabulations…”
Confronted with the fact that some SoPs, as highlighted by Golding, had, in fact, inflated the votes for the APNU/AFC, Patterson told reporters, “he called some numbers, I don’t know where it is…this process that we have here right now will tell you what’s decreased, what increases, what’s right and what’s not right”.
The AFC General Secretary was adamant that Golding was no longer the Head of the OAS Mission and “so obviously he is making that statement as a private individual”.
He was adamant, however, the recount process conflicted with the report by former Prime Minister Golding to the OAS, since the SoRs “largely reflect what we have in our possession”.
Additionally, Patterson told media operatives that the coalition would be presenting its analyses and comparisons of the figures being generated from the recount process at the tabulation of each district.
Meanwhile, former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall – maintaining that the SoRs currently being generated by the recount exercise continue to match up with the Election Day SoPs – said the “fraud of Mr Mingo is being unravelled box by box”.
He was at the time speaking specifically to the SoRs being generated for the recount of the votes in Region Four.
Nandlall in reference to the coalition’s public condemnations of Golding said the OAS Head could not have reported anything else and that he “said what he observed”.
Additionally, Nandlall speaking to Golding’s integrity pointed to the organisation that he represented which is constituted of 35 sovereign States.
According to Nandlall, “I don’t know why the Government was offended by what he said; Mr Golding could not have said anything other than what he said”.
The PPP Executive Member was adamant “it’s no secret that a fraud was perpetrated…I witnessed it”.
Nandlall suggested, “Mr Golding would have been in dereliction of his duty had he not said what he said” and as such, denounced the attacks on him.
Dismissing allegations of a reported friendship between the PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo and Golding, the former Attorney General asked, “You think Mr Golding would put his entire reputation on the line, you think Mr Golding will put the OAS’ reputation on the line because of some alleged friendship with Mr Jagdeo?”
Additionally, Nandlall in drawing reference to Patterson’s claim that Mingo’s tally sheet matches with APNU/AFC’s SoPs, again called on the coalition to produce the documents.
He told media operatives “all we are saying is if that is so produce the SoPs and end this controversy”.
Nandlall observed that “Mingo claims that he extracted those numbers from the SoPs in his possession; well, we need to see that … I don’t understand if they have that kind of evidence why they are not producing it and end all this controversy”.
Meanwhile, Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) leader Lenox Shuman, weighing in on the attack on Golding, stated that it did not augur well for Guyanese to start attacking the international community.
“I hope good sense prevails and an apology is offered to Golding and also hope we can see a bit more professionalism in terms of how we manage our affairs,” he said.