The eyes of the entire nation, the CARICOM region and the wider world are on Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh, as she is about to deliver her constitutional mandate and do what is morally and legally right for Guyana.
Today, Justice Singh is expected to officially declare the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections, more than three and a half months after the electorate went to the polls.
By any standard, this is an unacceptably long period of time for elections results to be announced, and the nation cannot, and must not, be allowed to wait any longer for a legitimate Government to be sworn in.
The entire nation and every international stakeholder know who the winner of the elections is. The National Recount which was completed a few days ago only confirmed what the nation knew since March 4; that is: the polls were free and fair and the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has emerged as the winner.
From all indications, the Commission is meeting again this morning to continue discussions on the reports made by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and the CARICOM Observer Team. We are unsure as to the reason/s for such lengthy discussions on a matter which should have been straightforward, since the results of the recount were shared with all political parties and were broadcast live for all to see.
On Saturday, Lowenfield presented his report to the Commission, confirming the figures showing a PPP/C victory. However, in the same vein, he ventured into areas in which he has no legal authority. But, as we have come to know by now, there are some within GECOM and the APNU/AFC Coalition who have lost all rationality, decency, and sense of fair play, and would go to any length to carry out what is clearly illegally and morally wrong.
Section 12 of the Recount Order clearly states that: “The matrices for the recount of the ten (10) Electoral Districts shall then be tabulated by the Chief Election Officer and shall be submitted in a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each District, to the Commission.”
However, Lowenfield strayed from that mandate. Instead of presenting a tabulation of the votes garnered during the recount exercise and a summary of the observation reports, Lowenfield illegally proffered his opinion and stated that he is of the belief that the election process may have lacked credibility and fairness.
However, as expected, his “assessment” has been rejected by everyone, except the APNU/AFC.
It is important to point out that the CARICOM Observation Team, which has the confidence of President David Granger, has found that the recount exercise was credible and the results reflected the will of the people. In its assessment, the Team said that the national recount process, despite some of its administrative failings, is not an indictment of the 2020 polls, “and the Team categorically rejects the concerted public efforts to discredit the 2020 polls up to the disastrous Region 4 tabulation.”
In very clear terms, the Team noted: “Nothing that we witnessed warrants a challenge to the inescapable conclusion that the recount results are acceptable and should constitute the basis of the declaration of the results of the March 02, 2020 elections”.
It could be recalled that in a letter to the United States Ambassador to Guyana on 15 May, President Granger stated that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) remains “the most legitimate interlocutor in the Guyana situation”, and that “Guyana, equally, is confident in the legitimacy, credibility and competence of the CARCIOM Team to perform its task”.
Now that the CARICOM Team has submitted its report, which debunks all claims of voter fraud being peddled by the APNU/AFC in their bid to annul the elections, we are waiting to see what the next steps of the President would be. After all, it is he who agreed, along with the Leader of the Opposition, to have the CARICOM Team come to Guyana to observe the recount process, so that the political crisis engulfing the country following Clairmont Mingo’s fraudulent declarations could be settled.
Certainly, pressure is mounting from all quarters for the Coalition Government to concede defeat and allow for the PPP/C to transition into government smoothly.
Justice Singh has the most crucial role to play today. She will do what is right for Guyana, nothing else. She has the power to stop the charade of a few who want to see Guyana go down a path of destruction.
