The APNU/AFC Coalition will stop at nothing in their cynical and illegal attempt to hold on to power. It is crystal clear that the Coalition have been massively defeated at the polls. The recount results have confirmed this, all the international and local stakeholders have accepted the results are a true reflection of the will of the people.
It is well over a hundred days since the elections were held, and yet Guyanese are forced to wait longer to have a Government which the majority voted for to take its place. The caretaker Government have not given any indication that they would concede defeat, and are in fact playing a dangerous game with their supporters by misleading them to believe that the Coalition had won the elections.
As if that were not enough, the defeated President has gone silent. After rejecting the request of the Carter Center and other international observers, he had made several empty promises about accepting the results of the National Recount and the findings of the Caricom Observer Team. Now that the team, which he himself agreed to, has endorsed the recount as being credible and has made it clear that the figures therein should be the basis of the final declaration, he has not said a single word.
In fact, what we are seeing now is a sustained effort by several of the President’s trusted coterie to engage in personal attacks on the members of the Caricom team and discredit their work. It is quite unfortunate that the three respected Caribbean personalities who have made such great personal sacrifices, leaving their families behind during a pandemic to come to Guyana to help safeguard our democracy, would have to endure such assault.
The president had also said that he would accept “any declaration by the Chairman of the Elections Commission”. The Chairman on Tuesday made it clear what that declaration would be when she directed the Chief Elections Officer to prepare his final report, pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, and in accordance with the numbers emanating from the recently-concluded National Recount.
The entire nation knows what the results of the recount are. Here again, the President has not made any moves which suggest that he will accept defeat and allow the rightful winner to be declared without all the drama involved. It is Joseph Harmon, his top aide, who seems to be doing all the talking. And if we are to go by what he (Harmon) has said as the President’s position on the matter, it confirms that the embattled leader is not committed to abiding by what he had promised he would do.
In the meantime, the entire country is on standstill. On Thursday, the nation was hoping that, finally, the official results of the elections would have been declared and the duly elected government sworn in, but this was not to be. After exploring all avenues to rig the elections and to prevent the will of the people from being respected, in another desperate move, the Coalition has moved to the Appellate Court to somehow find a “technicality” through which they could cling on to power; or, even worse, be declared the winner of the elections.
Over the weeks, we have seen multiple attempts at rigging the elections being played out through various personalities and through various activities. It was Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo at first. When that attempt failed, the Coalition engaged in pushing a false narrative of alleged voter impersonation and ghost voting etc, in order to annul the elections. These allegations were proven to be baseless.
In making her pronouncements also, the Chair made it clear that she had no jurisdiction to annul the elections, as that is a matter for the High Court by way of an elections petition.
Now that all of those efforts have proven to be unsuccessful, the Coalition is now moving to utilise the court system but to have the benefit of a petition through the back door. This again, we are confident, will not succeed, as it is against what is morally and legally right for the nation.
The GECOM Chair must take a stand on the side of democracy. Guyana is counting on her to make the right decisions in bringing this process to its finality based on her professionalism and integrity.
That said, it is becoming increasingly clear that the President has lost his way. He has lost the confidence of most Guyanese a long time ago. By holding on to power, he is further damaging his credibility, or what is left of it.
