Nandlall chastises Nagamootoo for “encouraging political dictatorship”

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Member Anil Nandlall has lashed out at caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo for reportedly suggesting that following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday, it allows for “valid votes” to be tabulated, and based on the submissions by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, the incumbent coalition would remain in power for a second term.

“Moses Nagamootoo is an utter disgrace to this country and to the legal profession, and I say so boldly without any apology whatsoever,” Nandlall said during a programme on Kaieteur Radio with hosts Yog Mahadeo and Leonard Gildarie, on Monday evening.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday in relation to its jurisdiction to hear the case brought by Eslyn David, seeking to block the official declaration of the March 2 polls, some A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) leaders conveniently interpreted the ruling to mean that it was a “victory” for the party and convinced their supporters to believe so.
But Nandlall, a former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, posited that what the coalition was essentially saying was that it was quite acceptable for the Chief Elections Officer to discard thousands of votes which are claimed to be “invalid” based on unsubstantiated allegations.
“He (Nagamootoo) is essentially telling you that Lowenfield can discount 275,000 votes from the people of this country, so that his party and his government can win…
“Moses Nagamootoo is encouraging political dictatorship,” Nandlall lashed out.
He reminded that at a meeting of June 18, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), through Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, made a unanimous decision that the Commission could not deal with the issue of credibility of an election. This is a matter for the High Court through an elections petition after the results have been declared and a President has been sworn in.
The former Attorney General added that the Commission has already, during the recount process, determined the validity of the votes.
“Valid votes have already been determined by the Commission, and Lowenfield has already been directed to go and total those valid votes and prepare the requisite statutory forms,” Nandlall said.
He explained that “invalid votes” were already discounted and put in separate envelopes during the recount process.
Nandlall argued that all Lowenfield has to do now was to “calculate the seats, identify the presidential candidate from the list that has received the most votes and identify that person as the president”, adding “Lowenfield cannot act independent of the Commission”.
On this basis, Nandlall citied two statutory provisions – Section 18 and Section 19 of the Elections Laws Amendment Act which state that the Chief Elections Officer and the Deputy Chief Elections Officer, “at all material times, must act in accordance with the direction of the Commission”.
“So GECOM clarified what Lowenfield ought to do and he cannot depart from that direction,” he enforced.
Nandlall further explained that the decision to move to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was to seek clarity on the law as there was much confusion following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday.
He said “nowhere on Planet Earth will a judiciary ever be empowered to defeat the will of the electorate”.
“No judicial body can direct a constitutional body as to how to perform its constitutional functions once that body operates within the law,” Nandlall added.
The former AG maintains that the PPP/C has won the elections convincingly based on the total number of valid votes it secured and would not relent until the APNU/AFC Government is removed from power.