The writing is clearly on the wall: that the APNU/AFC have lost the March 2 General and Regional Elections and have colluded with forces within the electoral machinery to rig the elections in order to hand a victory to the incumbent Coalition. As each day passes, the blatant attempts made by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to fiddle with the District Four results are being exposed.
We should underline the point that some of these revelations, detailing how the District Four results were altered, are being made by reputable individuals and international organisations who do not have a personal interest in Guyana’s politics or favour any particular political party. Their interest lies in ensuring that the electoral process is fair and transparent, and that the citizens of Guyana live in a peaceful and democratic country.
The statements by Head of the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Guyana, Bruce Golding, on Wednesday confirm what every stakeholder already knows; that is: there were barefaced attempts made by Mingo and others to tamper with the elections results by providing fictitious numbers in favour of the APNU/AFC, to show that that party won the elections.
In giving a preliminary overview of the Observation Mission’s findings on the March 2020 polls, the former Jamaica Prime Minister bluntly 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.”
Everyone knows that upon the completion of voting on elections day, Statements of Poll (SOPs) are produced and presented to each party representatives. A copy of the document is also posted on the wall outside each polling station at the close of poll. Those SOPs indicate how many votes are allotted to each political party for each polling station.
However, there is clear evidence to suggest that Mingo significantly altered the votes recorded on the SOPs when he was declaring the results for Region Four.
Golding, in an effort to substantiate what he was saying, cited figures from the current National Recount. He provided quite a few examples of Mingo fiddling with the figures by reducing the numbers of votes for the PPP and increasing those of the APNU/AFC.
According to Golding, Mingo simply abandoned the use of the SOPs, in the presence of the authorised party representatives, and relied on a spreadsheet of unknown origin, which provided results that were significantly different than those recorded on the SOPs.
Several other respected individuals representing various reputable organisations have expressed similar views in their initial observations of the conduct of the polls. Mr. Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister of Barbados, who headed the Observer Mission of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Observers from the European Union and CARICOM all expressed shock as the events unfolded on the evening of March 4.
Many of them had pointed out that while polling day activities were generally smooth and free and fair, it was the tabulation of the Dustrict Four results which landed the country in the present conundrum.
Barbados Ambassador to the OAS, Noel Lynch, on Wednesday confirmed this. He said: “Irregularities occurred not in the system by which the Guyanese electorate cast their votes on March 2nd, but in the presentation of the count afterwards”.
Even at this present stage of the recount, we are witnessing last-minute efforts by APNU/AFC agents to frustrate and delay the process by abusing the use of so-called ‘Observation Reports’. APNU/AFC agents are now making a number of unsubstantiated claims, which they are demanding must be recorded in the observation reports. These claims include allegations that dead people and persons who have migrated were allowed to vote. In addition to the reports being a time-wasting exercise, it is believed that there is a plan by APNU/AFC to use the reports to nullify the polls and call for fresh elections.
To begin with, it is difficult to believe that these ‘irregularities’ would happen in spite of all the various party agents, Observers and GECOM staff being present at each polling station. For something like this to occur, it would require a great deal of collusion between everyone present. This, as we know, is almost impossible, considering Guyana’s political climate and the level of distrust between parties.
No doubt, there will be more revelations in the coming days about the sad tale of Mingo. It is left to be seen whether President David Granger would concede once the recount confirms that, indeed, the Coalition have been defeated.
No doubt there will be more revelations in the coming days about the sad tale of Mingo. It is left to seen whether President David Granger will concede once the recount confirms that indeed the Coalition has been defeated.
