GECOM Chair must be aware entire country awaits recount – Jagdeo

With the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, expected to make a decision on the modalities of the pending national recount, General Secretary of the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Bharrat Jagdeo, is calling on the GECOM Head to be cognizant of the fact that Guyanese are eagerly awaiting the final results of the March 2 elections.

Guyana held General and Regional elections more than six weeks ago, and credible results are yet to be declared. In fact, the seven-member Elections Commission had agreed to a recount almost two weeks ago, but that process is yet to commence.
During a virtual press conference on Thursday, Jagdeo said the process to reach a final decision on the recount of the ballot has been “torturous”.

Nevertheless, he noted that, “The Chair of GECOM must be aware — she has to be aware now — that the entire country is awaiting on her to move this process forward… [They] have been awaiting a decision for several weeks now from the Commission.”
According to Jagdeo, an unfortunate situation currently exists in the Commission: every attempt to move the recounting process forward is being blocked by representatives of the APNU+AFC Coalition.
“This is why the Chair needs to wake up and see that she needs to take decisive decisions. She needs to end this charade that’s going on there… There is a need for urgency, and I hope the Chair understands that, and that whatever proposal they put in place, it cannot take forever,” he stressed.
Jagdeo, who is also the Opposition Leader, said there are compromised staff in the Elections Secretariat who are doing all they can to slow down the process, and then when the matter reaches to the level of the Commission, the Government-nominated Commissioners are putting up road blocks.
He noted that, hopefully, today’s decision by the GECOM Chair would detail when the recount would start, and how it would be pursued.
Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield had previously tabled a 156-day proposal for the recount, but that was widely rejected.
Last week, the PPP/C had submitted a counter-proposal for the recount of the 2,339 ballot boxes to be completed in 10 days – starting with Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) which not only is the largest voting district, but is also the source of contention following a fraudulent declaration by embattled Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo last month.
The Opposition plan also provides that there be 20 recounting stations with one observer from each group and one representative of each of the political parties, along with two independent GECOM staff. This is in keeping with the current social distancing protocols to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
However, Jagdeo on Thursday said there are now efforts to increase the number of GECOM staff present at each station, and these, he suspected, would be handpicked persons who might attempt to compromise the recount.
Additionally, the PPP had requested in its proposal that private auditing firms be hired or the Audit Office of Guyana be present during the recount, and that the activity be live streamed.
“These are all critical measures necessary to prevent a situation like the one we had in the GECOM Secretariat, where Mingo made the (fraudulent) declaration and the Secretariat staff interfered with, and tampered with, the tabulation,” the Opposition Leader stated.
Addressing concerns expressed over possible new attempts to interfere with the recount, Jagdeo said that while the party is worried, the presence of the international community is cushioning this.
There has been mounting pressure from the international community for the results of the March 2 elections to be credible and transparent. There have been warnings of serious consequences, including isolation and sanctions, should Guyana swear in a new government from fraudulent results.
Jagdeo explained that the threats have not yet been enforced, since the international community is still “hopeful” that the recount would be conducted and that there would be a new government based on credible elections results.
“The international community is not giving up on Guyana… If they tamper with the recount, the results would remain not credible, and so if they proceed to swear in a president on the basis of a recount that is not credible, then the full force and the weight of the international community will fall upon Guyana and those individuals like a ton of bricks,” he asserted.
The Opposition Leader added that the only opportunity left to avoid international sanctions is to allow the recount to be transparent and credible.
Nevertheless, he went on to urge persons to be patient, assuring that the PPP/C will continue to “take all necessary steps to ensure the recount is done in a transparent manner… So we are anxiously awaiting to see that those decisions are consistent with the urgency of the situation and it will ensure the transparency of the recount, and that there will be measures against anyone who tries to tamper with the results.”