Opposition Commissioners condemn scurrilous attacks against GECOM Chair

The three Opposition-nominated Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) have condemned the continuous vile attacks against its Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, particularly those emanating from within the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.
In a joint statement on Thursday, Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, “…unreservedly condemn these scurrilous attacks on the Chairman and call upon those engaged in such conduct, including senior members of the APNU+AFC, a contestant in these elections, to cease and desist from so doing”.

The three Opposition Commissioners believe these vile attacks directed at the GECOM Chair stemmed from her firm stance in rejecting the fraudulent reports presented by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and insisting that only the recount figures be presented to the Commission to enable a declaration of final elections results.
“While Commissioners may not always agree with the Chairman, she has always discharged her duties with professionalism, fairness, and impartiality, and in keeping with the tenets of the Constitution and other legal provisions,” they said in the missive.
According to the GECOM Commissioners, it seems to have become the norm for individuals and organisations that take actions or make statements which appear to be averse to the “rigging agenda” to be subjected to various kinds of attacks.
As the post-elections events unfolded, there have been increased attacks — mostly via social media – against the GECOM Chair.

Back in April, Justice Singh had reported a death threat on her life to the Guyana Police Force. She subsequently told reporters, “They have a bounty on my head from Friday [April 17, 2020] night.”
More recently, however, the attacks have escalated and the Police last week arrested an APNU/AFC activist from Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) who had threatened to kill the GECOM Chair in a Facebook post last week.
The post, which was made under a fake profile, was traced back to the person who made it.
The perpetrator, Ryan Williams, 27, of Silver City, Wismar, Linden, was charged under the Cybercrime Act and placed on $500,000 bail during his court appearance on Monday.
Meanwhile, even more disturbing is a video on social media showing persons conducting a makeshift funeral with a doll which they claim represents the GECOM Chair.
These attacks had prompted United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, to also condemn the acts. During an engagement with the media last week, Lynch said: “I am shocked and appalled at the dangerous statements and actions that I have seen directed at the Chairwoman.”
As such, the US Ambassador called for these acts and attacks against Justice Singh to be condemned.
“Chairwoman Singh is a person of the utmost integrity and a distinguished jurist who has given decades of her life in service to her country. I hope that all Guyanese will speak out on her behalf and allow her to continue her work and bring this electoral process to closure,” the US diplomat stated.
The GECOM Chair was forced to discard several reports submitted by the CEO after he continuously failed to adhere to her directive to use the figures from the recount exercise to compile his report.
In his last report, Lowenfield used the fraudulent figures of embattled Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo, who was found to have heavily inflated votes in favour of the APNU/AFC.
Justice Singh then set aside the declarations from all the 10 ROs and gave the CEO a final chance to submit a correct report using the recount figures. However, before he could have done so, legal proceedings were filed by APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones, who was seeking to block GECOM from making a declaration based on the national recount results.
The certified results of the 33-day exercise show the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) with a landslide victory, having secured 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.