Basil Williams, Karen Cummings lie to OAS Permanent Council

…claim CCJ never endorsed recount votes for declaration

Guyana’s Attorney General Basil Williams has lied to the Organisation of American States (OAS) Permanent Council, claiming that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) did not rule that the recount results must be used as the basis for the elections declaration.
Williams made a virtual appearance on Tuesday before the Council alongside de facto Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Karen Cummings. There, they sought to defend the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) against the claims that the coalition is delaying the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from making an election declaration.
“The CCJ never made a ruling that the results of the recount must be used by GECOM to determine the results of the elections, that was never a decision of the CCJ,” Williams told the OAS Permanent Council, which called the meeting to discuss the electoral crisis in Guyana. However, unlike what was peddled by Williams, the CCJ had in fact endorsed the recount process and made it clear that it must be the basis on which a declaration is made by GECOM.
CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders, in delivering the court’s judgement on July 8 in the Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case, had said: “Unless and until an election court decides otherwise, the votes already counted by the recount process as valid votes are incapable of being declared invalid by any person or authority.”
Williams also told the Permanent Council that caretaker President David Granger has given an undertaking that he would abide by the ruling of the courts. However, APNU/AFC has done anything but abide by the rulings of the court, since it has rehashed and re-appealed matters that are in fact res judicata, that is already adjudicated by the courts.
Meanwhile, Dr Cummings told the Permanent Council that her APNU/AFC Government led by Granger has not interfered with the electoral process.
“…the decision taken by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, and other members of the international community to intervene, to impact the outcome of the elections, while the Supreme Court is still to rule, and the Elections Commission still to make a declaration of the results, is premature…. we all agree that international monitors are valued during an election; however , Chair, dictating a desired outcome – that departs from the legal mechanisms in place to resolve electoral disputes, is a disservice to the good people of Guyana and a vile and sinister attempt to sully the will of the people,” Dr Cummings said in her statement on Wednesday.
She claimed that the Government has consistently respected the rulings of the courts, the Constitution of Guyana, and the authority of the Elections Commission.
Dr Cummings also told the OAS that the international community should be patient, since, according to her, there is no breakdown of law and order in Guyana.
Acknowledging that the electoral process has been prolonged, the APNU/AFC member said political leaders and democratic institutions were working to resolve the issues arising from the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
According to her, the political process has not been completed and the completion rests solely in the hands of GECOM.
In this regard, she said no declaration could be made until the litigation process was completed.
But it is the Granger-led APNU/AFC coalition, through its supporters, that continues to approach the courts to block GECOM from making its declaration.
However, Dr Cummings told the OAS that the Executive Branch of Guyana has never tried to influence, interfere with, or instruct GECOM.
Moreover, she said caretaker President Granger has stated that he would abide by any declaration made by the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh “in keeping with the laws of Guyana”.
Dr Cummings told the OAS that Guyana was a “democratic nation and intends to remain so”. She further expressed that “there is no breakdown of law and order in Guyana”.
She noted that the “international community should be patient and not seek to influence unduly the constitutional and legal processes which are ongoing”.

Recount

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Singh wrote to her Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, on June 16, directing him to prepare a final report based on the recount.
Instead, Lowenfield had submitted a report invalidating over 115,000 votes 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 before the CCJ for the Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case.
Among other decisions, the CCJ ruled in a unanimous decision 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 Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, which inaccurately shows that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) gained 80,920 votes while the APNU/AFC received 116,941 votes in Region Four. Just when Singh looked set to forge ahead with or without the CEO, APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones took GECOM to the High Court.

Ruling
In her ruling on Monday, acting Chief Justice Roxane George threw out the Misenga Jones application, ruling that recount Order 60 of 2020 is valid and must be used as the basis to declare the results of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. In fact, she referred to Jones’s application and the contentions of Attorney General Williams as “hopelessly flawed”.
The Judge ruled that Jones and Williams misinterpreted what the CCJ ruled. In fact, Justice George said that if one was to read the ruling, the CCJ plainly endorsed rather than invalidated the recount.
The acting Chief Justice also made it clear that GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield is no lone ranger, and must take his direction from GECOM Chair Singh. She also read the CCJ judgement itself, which supports Section 18 of the Election Law Amendment Act and the subservient role Lowenfield plays.
While Justice George emphasised the importance of lawyers not rehashing old cases repeatedly, Jones’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde has indicated an intention to appeal the ruling. While APNU/AFC continues to delay the inevitable, the patience of the international community wears thin.
Last week, the United States had announced that it was slapping officials in Guyana who are undermining democracy, with visa restrictions. The decision was announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during a press conference. According to Pompeo, these visa restrictions can also be applied to the immediate family members of those persons.