Guyana’s post-NCM image “took a severe beating” – Irfaan Ali

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday highlighted that Guyana’s image suffered a ‘severe beating’ ever since the passage of the No-Confidence Motion against the Granger regime in 2018, which later catapulted the country into a state of instability.

International organisations, observer groups, and the diplomatic community have looked at the country in disdain after months have passed without the appointment of a Head of State.
For almost four months, the country has also been left at a standstill as it awaits a credible declaration from the March 2, 2020 polls. In the national recount, the PPP/C emerged victorious based on the number of certified votes garnered.
Speaking at a live forum, he emphasised that a country’s stature should represent its respect for the rule of law, democracy and international relationships – all of which are essential in building investments. But the fight by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) to cling to power has changed the way the country is perceived on the international stage.

“The image of our country took a severe beating in the last few months, or maybe more. Maybe the last year and a half since the passage of the No-Confidence Motion. The image of a country is very important for stability, for investment. You are presenting an image to the international community that you are a serious country, that you take seriously the rule of law, issues of democracy, that you take very seriously the constitution of that country and that you respect the international charters that you are a part of,” he asserted.
Guyana has stood as a member of the Caribbean Community, Commonwealth, the United Nations, Organisation of American States and many other reputable organisations. According to him, they have proved important in lending a third eye in ensuring that the elections were transparent and credible.
Dr Ali further stated that these entities singularly pointed out that Region Four’s Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo provided falsified results thus calling for a national recount, which upon its completion showed the PPP/C emerging victorious.
“Unfortunately, what we have here in Guyana is that all the stakeholders who came here to oversee our elections are of the singular view that 1) the tabulation of District Four votes by Mingo was fraudulent and that everyone embraced a national recount. All these observers are also of the singular view that the outcome of the recount results which showed a People’s Progressive Party/Civic victory is credible, acceptable, and should be result that is used by GECOM for the declaration of the President,” Dr Ali noted.
Meanwhile, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield submitted a report on Tuesday to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat which did not reflect the recount results and more importantly, disenfranchised some 115,000 voters. Dr Ali lamented that this ‘concocted’ document was created with the intention of derailing the will of the people.
The Presidential Candidate contended, “He was a part of this deep-seated, deep-rooted conspiracy to steal an election, to steal a country and that is a fundamental point…The world and every democratic force are on the same page, that is, the results of the recount are acceptable.”
Meanwhile, he also called out the APNU/AFC coalition for playing mind games with their supporters as it continued to hinder the announcement of a winner from the polls. This has added to the impression created of Guyana by overseas entities.
“The unfortunate thing here is the way the APNU/AFC have treated their supporters. Their supporters would have voted for them, but I’m sure their supporters, the majority of which, do not agree with the state of the affairs and for them to play psychological games with their supporters is not right.”
He added, “We’re in a situation where the group of persons who are trying to take away the rights of the people and to impose themselves on this country are trying to present a narrative, but the world has changed. When we say we live in a global village and are part of a global community, it means something.”
Just Wednesday, the caretaker Government launched an attack on current Head of Caricom, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, after she spoke out on the recent move by CEO Lowenfield to invalidate over 115,000 votes.
The Caricom Head, along with Heads of the ABCE diplomatic missions in Guyana – United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union, expressed that the results from the national recount must form the basis for the declaration of the election results.
However, they all came under attack by the David Granger-led coalition and Mottley’s statement was labelled as “ill-informed and ill-advised”. The coalition then retracted its statement, citing errors.
The coalition has also, in the past, insisted that other countries should not meddle in Guyana’s affairs and later reached out to these stakeholders for funding and monetary grants.