“Be patient” – Jagdeo to Guyanese

…says results to be known by today

As Guyana awaits the results of Monday’s General and Regional Elections, Vice President and General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has urged supporters and Guyanese as a whole to “be patient”.
During an update following the close of polls last night, Jagdeo said, “I’m very pleased that we’ve had a peaceful day of voting. We’re all now awaiting the results, and hopefully the country will continue to maintain this peaceful posture. I want to say to the population on the whole and PPP supporters: be patient.”
Jagdeo characterised the day as “a good one” for the country, emphasising that despite some logistical issues, the voting process was peaceful and accessible. He added that there were minor glitches during the day, including issues related to voter accessibility and isolated disruptions at polling stations. However, he said these were addressed without major consequence.
“There was nothing fatal about the process, and it went peacefully… Every Guyanese who wanted to exercise their franchise could have done so today in a peaceful manner,” he noted.

He did, however, flag concerns over inadequate infrastructure for elderly and disabled voters, referencing reports of voters being assisted up steep stairways in multi-storey buildings without elevators.
The PPP/C General Secretary added that though the final results are yet to be announced, he is confident that a clear picture will emerge as early as today.
“It’s going to be a long night, and results are going to come in in little dribbles from different parts of the country, and it’s hard to form an opinion based on what you see on individual statements of poll. We have a macro picture, and as far as I see, it’s a good picture.
“The results are going to be known very soon. We don’t have to wait five months for these results because by tomorrow (Tuesday). I expect all of the SOPs to be uploaded, and then every Guyanese will know the result of the elections,” Jagdeo expressed.
He said that the party is confident that GECOM, as per the provisions of the law, will upload all SOPs to their website by tomorrow before the tabulation of the results commences. He urged other political parties to not rush by posting SOPs which may not be a reflection of the true numbers at the polling stations. He added that there is nothing barring the parties from posting SOPs, but they have a responsibility to ensure that the SOPs are authentic.
“But at the end of the day, the results would be known. In this country our voting system is proportional representation, and the party that gets the most votes wins the presidency. Depending on the votes that you get in relation to the number of voters who turn out, the seats in Parliament are allocated, and then the results would be known to the public,” he reminded.
He noted that the PPP/C has been examining the numbers and calculating voter turnout, which seems to be lower than 2020. Jagdeo said early turnout numbers and voting trends reflect a strong showing for the PPP/C and indicate significant inroads into traditional APNU strongholds like Georgetown.
“The trend is – you’re seeing it now – that APNU will have a very difficult night. They will have a very, very difficult night. APNU supporters, or traditional supporters, are going to go three ways; to the PPP, to WIN, and some will remain with APNU, and that party will have some serious introspection to do,” he explained.
Jagdeo further explained that at the 2020 GRE, APNU won the capital by a margin of 50,000 votes, but based on his party’s projection, that number will significantly reduce.
“They will never end tonight with that big margin of 50,000 votes more than the PPP in the city,” he declared.