It is a national disgrace that even after Chief Justice Roxane George ruled on Wednesday that the unverified elections results declared by Region 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo are null and void given the blatant breaches of the law, GECOM officials, led by the Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, derail the democratic process using fake numbers and then fake SoPs to give a “victory” to the APNU/AFC coalition.
It is now crystal clear that these elements within GECOM worked in collusion with the APNU/AFC, who are bent on seeing Guyana being destroyed, all because of selfish political interests and a hunger for power. One would have thought that Justice George’s ruling and orders were straightforward and simple and would have been respected by all parties involved.
The Court had already ruled that the Region 4 RO did not compile the tabulation of the majority of the SoPs transparently to ensure accountability in front of the statutorily authorised stakeholders as defined by Sec 86(1) of the Representation of the People Act. Mingo’s attempts, therefore, to once again use a questionable spreadsheet, to verify the results, was nothing more than provocative. His later seeming concession to move the counting process to the GECOM HQ so as to facilitate “transparency” turned out to be a farce since he used copies to project and not original SoPs since the former could and were tampered with.
As is presently stands, the political crisis has deepened and it seems that a solution is nowhere close, considering the players that are involved. By now, everyone knows who has won the elections, including the APNU/AFC, who tried every trick in the book to frustrate the process and blatantly steal the elections in front of the watchful eyes of the world. The final count is being done after all the representatives have walked out of a clearly fraudulent process.
In spite of President David Granger giving his word to the five Caricom heads who were here this week that he was committed to seeing the CJ’s ruling and orders being carried out in the national interest, he has clearly reneged. He has shown by his actions that he is determined to hold on to power at all cost, even if it means his country will face heavy sanctions and being isolated.
President Granger must be well aware of the firm statements coming out of the Observer Missions here and countries around the world who have all stated clearly that they would not recognise a government that takes power through a fraudulent process.
As it presently stands, the Organisation of American States (OAS) led by former Jamaica PM, Bruce Golding, has withdrawn from the process over the blatant attempts by GECOM RO and others to declare results that are highly questionable. In an initial statement, the OAS said that the process being conducted by RO Mingo for Region 4 to ascertain the results of the national and regional elections “does not meet the required standard of fairness and transparency”. It said that “without any plausible explanation, the Returning Officer continued to ascertain the votes cast for each party list without affording the duly authorised candidates and counting agents an opportunity to see the SoPs in order to compare them with the copies in their possession”.
It added that “the RO’s defiance of the Chief Justice’s orders and expectations, and his refusal to allow the SoPs to be exhibited, gives credence to the allegations that the numbers being tabulated do not correspond with the numbers appearing on the SOPs prepared following the March 2 elections”.
The GECOM Chair and the Chief Elections Officer must also share responsibility for the current crisis gripping the country. As head of the constitutional body tasked with ensuring fair and credible are elections are held, the Chairperson, along with the CEO, has a legal responsibility to ensure that these electoral process is in keeping with the laws of the country and can withstand international scrutiny.
We are forced to ask why RO Mingo and others in GECOM were allowed to do as they wished in clear breach of the elections laws of Guyana. At some point in time, the GECOM Chairperson must provide answers on the entire episode regarding the conduct of these elections, especially as it relates to the declaration of the Region 4 results.
In the end, the actions of the Granger-led APNU/AFC and elements within GECOM will hurt the entire country. The US has already sent a strong warning, saying; “those who participate and benefit from electoral fraud, undermine democratic institutions and impede a peaceful transition of power can be subject to a variety of consequences”. It has also clearly stated that “De facto regimes do not receive the same treatment from US as democratically elected governments”.
