Quit changing fraudulent narratives – Dr Irfaan Ali to APNU/AFC

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali in a stinging video broadcast has lambasted the coalition APNU/AFC for its shifting narratives since Election Day and has urged them to put the people of Guyana first.

Ali’s message came hours after caretaker Attorney General Basil Williams questioned the legal basis for using the recount to declare a winner. This is despite provisions for the recount in the Representation of the People Act, as well as a Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) gazetted order.

“They started by saying they won the elections. They said the elections were free and fair, it was the best elections ever held. It was free from fraud and reflected the will of the people,” Ali said, adding, “then, when we were heading into the recount, the narrative was the PPP don’t want the recount to take place. Then they said every vote must count, we want the recount. We’re now seeing that narrative changing, the Attorney General saying the recount has no basis in law.”
According to Ali, it is easy to understand why the narrative is changing, namely the fact that the coalition has been stopped in its tracks from trying to rig. He noted that the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) fraud is so glaring that even their supporters have noticed.
“The coalition has realised by now that the PPP won these elections. As a result, they’re trying to create confusion in relation to the process. There was a process, they had their agents in there. We heard no objections. Suddenly, falsified claims of dead people voting. Of persons not living in Guyana voting,” Ali said.
“I’ve seen on social media, many of the persons they claimed to be dead are releasing their own videos and statements, showing they are alive and well. Why this mischief then?” the Presidential Candidate questioned.

Enough
According to Ali, enough is enough. He noted that far from misleading its supporters about its victories, the PPP has placed its Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) into the public domain for the public to judge for themselves. And he reminded that they all made commitments to respect the outcome of the recount, once it is done in a transparent manner.
“What do we do from here, as responsible leaders? As leaders who want to see the best for our country? Even as the dust is settled, no sophisticated investor will want to invest in a country with political instability. It is important that we respect the will of the people in these elections and the commitment we made to respect the recount outcome.”
“It must not be a commitment that is now whisked away because the coalition is now faced with the reality. [Prime Ministerial hopeful Khemraj] Ramjattan said the PPP is throwing red meat to its supporters. The PPP is not throwing red meat to its supporters or any Guyanese. We have been responsible enough to place out there our SoPs and SoRs so that all of Guyana can have the facts and do their own analysis. That is why, after doing their analysis, Guyana is saying to the coalition let us stop this nonsense and move forward.”

Fraud
Since the recount started, the PPP/C has put the coalition on blast because the numbers being uncovered are vastly different to those declared by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
In fact, the PPP/C has contended that Mingo not only fraudulently inflated the number of votes in favour of APNU/AFC, but he also subtracted votes from the PPP/C. Examples have been given, for instance, ballot box 4064 at Friendship Secondary School and ballot box 4063 at Garden of Eden, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lecture hall.
In the case of ballot box 4064, Mingo declared A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) as having won 170 votes and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) as winning 73 votes.
However, the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in the party’s possession show APNU winning 70 and the PPP 93, while the Statement of Recount (SoR) shows APNU winning 71 and PPP, 96. It, therefore, means that Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s numbers by at least 99 and subtracted 23 from the PPP.
In ballot box 4063, Mingo declared APNU/AFC as winning 85 votes and the PPP, 246. However, the SoPs and the SoR show APNU/AFC winning just 15 votes and the PPP, 276. It means that Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s votes by 70 and reduced the PPP’s votes by 30.