Caricom Chair disputes Lowenfield’s authority to invalidate 115,000 votes

…tells aggrieved parties to utilise elections court
…says situation “bizarre”

Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chair and Barbadian Prime Minister, Mia Mottley has chastised the Guyana Elections Commission’s Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield for his disenfranchisement of the Guyanese people.

Mottley’s concerns come one day after the report of the March 2 General and Regional Elections was submitted by Lowenfield.
Lowenfield, on Tuesday, prepared and submitted the final report on the elections to GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh. In the report, he altered the figures emanating from the national recount and took away over 115,000 votes that were initially deemed valid.

He presented that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) won the elections with 171,825 votes while the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) gained 166,343. However, the certified results from the legally-conducted recount exercise supervised by GECOM and a high-level team from Caricom pellucidly show that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC garnered 217,920 votes.
In a video statement, Prime Minister Mottley noted that Caricom, from the inception, has been clear in its calls for every vote to be counted in a fair and transparent manner. She explained that it was this commitment to a fair and transparent political process that led Caricom to field two Electoral Observer Missions to Guyana.

“Gamesmanship”
Mottley said that it was regrettable that the Caribbean Community was now witnessing an unprecedented level of “gamesmanship” that has left much to be desired. She described the current electoral malfeasances in Guyana as actions which put the Caribbean Region’s image on the questionable spectrum.
In relation to Lowenfield, the Chair noted that Caricom remained concerned that they would submit a report that is contrary to the directions of GECOM as well as not reflective of the will of the Guyanese electorate. The will of the electorate, she noted, was cemented by the numbers emanating from the Caricom-observed national recount of the ballots.
She inferred that it would be a proverbial slap in the face of the Caricom Team led by Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cynthia Barrow-Giles, and the Guyanese people for the CEO to present figures not reflective of what was certified by the GECOM staff. The Caricom Team also included Sylvester King, Deputy Supervisor of Elections of St Vincent and the Grenadines and John Jarvis, Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission.

Great risk
PM Mottley reminded that the Caricom Team members placed themselves at great risk when they decided to travel to Guyana amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Caricom Observer Team was of the unshakeable belief that the people of Guyana expressed their will at the ballot box on March 2 and that the results of the recount certified as valid by the staff of the Guyana Elections Commission lead to an orderly conclusion on which the declaration of the results of the election could and would be made.
“Therefore, we must ask on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Elections Officer determine that he should invalidate one vote, far less over 115,000 votes when the votes were already certified as valid by the Officers of the Guyana Elections Commission in the presence of the said political parties?” the Caricom Chair questioned.
She went on to state that any attempt to provide numbers different from those certified by the staff of GECOM is one that left many in the Community in shock and wondering what the next move to frustrate the will of the Guyanese people will be.

Useful not obstructive
She reminded that the role and focus of political parties must be useful and not obstructive in embracing and promoting the will of the people. To do otherwise, she said, would be tantamount to sowing seeds of discord and acrimony – things leaders swear to dissuade and discourage.
“We must remind all that if there is any evidence of fraudulent or improper conduct, then there is a clear and well-accepted route to deal with these matters. It is through an elections petition to an election court,” Mottley opined.
The Bajan leader also lauded the Guyanese people for their patience as they await the conclusion of the electoral process. She also reiterated the Community’s commitment to Guyana and noted that it was confident in the report of the Caricom Team.
Meanwhile speaking on a Trinidad and Tobago programmed hosted by Hema Ramkissoon, on CNC3 Mottley said that the elections situation in Guyana is “a little bizarre”. She however added that the other Heads of Government within Caricom are attuned to the issue in Guyana and will wait to let the process play out over the next few days.