Concede, tell supporter to withdraw appeal – GCCI urges Granger

…as PSC rejects GPSU’s contention that results not credible

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer in a letter to caretaker President David Granger called on him to ask his party agent to withdraw their appeal in the case of Misenga Jones v GECOM et al and to concede defeat following the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The GCCI noted that it has been 141 days since Guyanese went to the polls and the time for a declaration of the results is past due. It also noted that the people are tired and would like the election process to come to an end, while alluding to the fact that the ball to pave the way for the completion of the process is in the coalition’s court.
“Excellency, we believe you have the power, as Ms Jones was an APNU+AFC Party Agent, and as her lawyers are APNU party agents, to ask Ms Jones to withdraw her appeal. You also have the power to ask the Attorney General to not support any appeal from the Government’s side either…there are two moves that saves face for all Excellency, the first is for you to call Dr Irfaan Ali and concede that indeed the PPP list, which he heads, has won the election, and the second is to ask your party’s candidate Ms Jones to not file an appeal on the CJ’s decision. It is the only way that saves face and allows a dignified outcome for all,” Deygoo-Boyer noted in his letter.

Jones, through her lawyers – Trinidadian Senior Counsel John Jeremie, APNU/AFC candidate Roysdale Forde, Keith Scotland, Mayo Robertson and Rondelle Keller – approached the court for judicial review. She sought several orders from the court inclusive of a declaration that the gazetted Order 60 of 2020 and the recount results extracted therefrom are invalid and unconstitutional; a declaration that the report required by the CEO under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act must be based on the votes counted and information furnished by the ten (10) Returning Officers from their respective 10 Electoral Districts which were submitted to the CEO on March 13; a declaration that the CEO is not subjected to the directions of the Chair of the Commission on the contents of his report among others.
In total, Jones through her attorneys sought 28 reliefs from the court but Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George dismissed the case on the grounds that the issues were res judicata which meant that they have already been ventilated and pronounced upon by a competent court and cannot be relitigated.
Jones’ lawyer has since filed an appeal.

In this regard, the GCCI noted that there is very little chance of success in the Appeal Court, since based on Justice George’s ruling, that would mean asking the Court of Appeal to overturn their own statements and points raised in the Ulita Moore ruling.
“Worse yet Excellency, even if by some miracle Ms Jones succeeded at the Court of Appeal, the absurdity of her lawyers arguing to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Judges that those same Judges said that the Recount Order, Order 60, was illegal will shame us for the rest of our lives in Caribbean jurisprudence,” the GCCI President said.
GCCI have been consistent in its calls for the APNU/AFC to accept its defeat and pave the way for the PPP/C to occupy the seat of power.

Challenging GPSU
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Gerry Gouveia has taken to the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) to task over comments that the results from the March 2 elections are not credible.
Gouveia said that the PSC finds it extraordinary and is extremely disappointed that the GPSU, presuming to speak for all public servants, would arrive at any decision other than to recognise, as every other local and international observer mission has done, that the March 2 elections were, in fact, conducted in a wholly credible manner. According to the PSC chair, the alleged undocumented and unproved irregularities listed in the observer reports of the recount, as the Chief Justice (ag) has ruled, are matters for an election petition.

The body also welcomed the comprehensive and detailed decision and ruling of Justice George, particularly on the matter of the validity of the recount, adding that it notes that the Chief Justice has specifically ruled that GECOM must declare the result of the elections only from the data of the recount.
It also explained that the CJ gave clarity to the fact that the CEO is subject to the direction and control of the Commission in submitting his report to GECOM. As such, the PSC called on the Chairman of GECOM to sanction no further delay in arriving at the declaration of the elections result from the recount. (G2)