Jagdeo lambasts Harmon for “vile” attack on PM Gonsalves

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday fired off at the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition over its series of attacks against respected Caribbean personalities for their stance on ensuring a credible winner is declared following the recount of votes cast in the March 2 polls.

This comes on the heels of Executive Member of the APNU/AFC coalition, Joseph Harmon, on Thursday accusing St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, of taking a position “that is prejudicial to the integrity of the [recount] process and its eventual outcome”.
This was after PM Gonsalves, who is the incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), on Wednesday called on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to declare a winner based on the results emanating from the recently-concluded national recount.

Jagdeo, a former Head of State himself, on Friday called Harmon the coalition’s “bulldog”, pointing out that he keeps lashing out at anyone who dare talks about the APNU/AFC defeat at the March 2 elections.
“The recent nasty statement from Harmon, again, talking about Ralph Gonsalves’ statement [saying it] is “prejudicial to the integrity of the process”. Now, their attempt to steal the elections through Mingo was not prejudicial to the integrity of the process. But because Ralph Gonsalves said that ‘you have to respect the results of the recount and have the declaration be made on the recount’, that he has now been faced with the vilest attack by Joseph Harmon,” the Opposition Leader noted during a virtual presentation.

He reminded, specifically President David Granger, that he agreed to a national recount back in March when the five-member Caricom Heads of Government delegation, which current Chair of the regional bloc Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley had led and which PM Gonsalves was a part of, came to Guyana to resolve the electoral impasse following the March 2 elections.
“What we agreed to was a recount of the votes. And if you listen to when Mia Mottley announced the Caricom team coming to Guyana [to observe the national recount that was initially set for March but postponed due to legal proceedings], she made it clear this was a recount requested by President Granger… And that is what Ralph Gonsalves said, ‘You requested the recount and the recount has been completed, we have numbers confirming the SoPs (Statements of Poll), you have to declare on the basis of the recount numbers; everything else goes to court,” Jagdeo stated.
There have been mounting calls, particularly from the international community which had rejected the figures from the initial tabulation of the March 2 elections as lacking credibility and transparency, for the results emanating from the national recount to be used for the declaration, which is scheduled for June 16.
This comes after the coalition challenged the results from the recount.
However, during an NBC Radio Programme on Wednesday, PM Gonsalves contended that the regional bloc would not accept the setting aside of the results emanating from the national recount.
“When you take part in an election, there is always a chance that you will lose, and if you lose, like Sir Arthur [Lewis] said: ‘Take your licks like a man’,” he remarked.
The incoming Caricom Chair further posited that the Community was not going to “tolerate anybody stealing an election”.
“I am satisfied that Caricom will not stand by idly and watch the recount, which was properly done, for the results to be set aside,” he contended.
Dr Gonsalves further posited that St Vincent and the Grenadines “stands firmly for democracy and reflecting the will of the people.”
Dr Gonsalves is expected to assume chairmanship of Caricom next month. The regional bloc had fielded a three-member delegation on the ground during the 34-day recount exercise and they are expected to compile a report of their observations during the exercise to submit to the Elections Commission.
The current Caricom Chair, Mia Mottley has already taken a firm stance against any undemocratic government.
The Barbadian Prime Minister had expressed that “any government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy”.
This recent attack on PM Gonsalves is not the first such incident to occur.
Harmon had previously criticised former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who had led an Organisation of American States (OAS) observer team to the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
Presenting his preliminary findings of the Electoral Observation Mission to the OAS Permanent Council on May 13, Golding said, “I have never seen a more transparent effort to alter the results of an election… it takes an extraordinarily courageous mind to present fictitious numbers when such a sturdy paper trail exists.”
Additionally, the incumbent APNU/AFC has also launched attacks on the diplomatic community, accusing them of interfering with Guyana’s internal affairs and electoral process.