We still challenge APNU/AFC to produce its SoPs

Dear Editor,
The almost completed recount of the votes cast on March 2, 2020, has already confirmed to the world, and to citizens at home and abroad, that the PPP/C has convincingly won these General and Regional Elections. All contesting parties are now even more aware and factually empowered with overwhelming evidence of the massive fraud attempted by operatives of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), to deny the PPP/C a deserving victory according to our citizens’ will. The fallible attempts by PNC and APNU operatives must not be allowed to discredit the process and realise the clear results.
The sequence of events that led us to this point could not have exposed a more glaring abuse of procedure and breaches of legislative obligations. It remains inexplicable that both GECOM and the APNU/AFC, whom their agents attempted to install as winners, have refused to release their Statements of Poll (SoPs) in support of their declared claims. Many citizens, observers, and commentators still contend that Justice (Ret’d) Madam Claudette Singh as the Chairperson of GECOM, failed miserably when she decided to reject this motion following Mr Clairmont Mingo’s ineptitude and cheating actions as a servant of the GECOM.
The fact remains that the Presiding Officers (POs) and the agents representing the contesting political parties in the elections, were present at the tabulation and final count which took place at each Polling Station. They all witnessed and affirmed the validity of the vote counts by affixing their signature on all the SoPs. The respective POs issued each party agent with a representative copy of the signed SoP for that Station; placed a copy outside of the Polling Station and retained the originals and other copies for submission to the Chief Elections Officer, Mr Lowenfield, and the respective Regional Returning Officers (ROs) at the end of the process on Elections Day.
Guyana, as a result of some contaminated GECOM staff and the shameless cheating executed by Clairmont Mingo, became the unfortunate beneficiary of creating history defined by the longest period for the declaration of its election results. In attempting to execute his rigging, halfway through the tabulation process for District Four, Mingo pulled out a prepared flawed spreadsheet and allowed his representatives from GECOM to read from it, figures that were not on legitimate SoPs. This was done in the presence of the national and international observers, along with the diplomats and all the parties elections agents.
This blatant thieving was halted when the Chief Election Officer of GECOM, Mr Keith Lowenfield, was forced to intervene. He came and did a few checks which confirmed irregularity, given that the numbers on the spreadsheets were not corresponding with the figures on the SoPs. Hence, Mr Lowenfield issued clear instructions that the count must continue using the SoPs and the process was smooth and transparent until Mingo once again attempted to use the inflated figures in favour of APNU/AFC and deflated figures for the PPP/C.
Against justified and vehement protest by all the political parties, Mingo continued, actually making a false declaration based on the fictitious spreadsheet data, even before the detailed tabulation for all Stations in Region Four was completed. The PPP/C rightfully took the matter to the High Court where the Chief Justice (ag) vitiated Mingo’s fraudulent approach and ruled that there must be a recount of the ballots in the boxes. This did not go down well with Lowenfield and representatives of APNU/AFC who initially tried valiantly to prevent the recount from occurring, eventually taking the matter to the Court of Appeal which upheld the recount decision that was notably agreed to by the Chairman of GECOM Justice Clauddit Singh.
It is public knowledge that Lowenfield, Mingo, and the APNU/AFC’s cabal Commissioners at GECOM along with their party members have tried several times over to swear Mr Granger in as President. This was to the strongest objections of most citizens and the world at large, based on Mingo’s deliberate falsification and Lowenfield’s willingness to use it while knowing otherwise. The resulting language of non-recognition and sanctions on individuals and country could not be made clearer and this may have influenced Mr Granger to not carry out the sinful act, given the untoward suicidal revolutions that he was heading into. The Leader of the Opposition and President Granger subsequently agreed to accept the results of a total recount of all votes cast as the final position. This recount is the final count.
President Granger is on record saying that he will accept the result of the recount when it is announced by the Chairman of GECOM. It is clear that the elections held on March 2, 2020, were ‘free and fair’. These are the words that were expressed by all the political parties including the APNU/AFC before the beginning of the SoP tabulations where all went well in each region excepting Region Four. Guyana must be forever thankful to the staff at GECOM because they did a very good job on Election Day.
Editor, the expectations are sky-high locally and internationally that the elections “dance” will soon conclude and the PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali will be sworn in as the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Mr Mark Phillips appointed as the Prime Minister.
As we come to the end of this recount, tensions and frustrations are also having a serious effect on our people. As such, it is expected that the new PPP/C Government will be objective and caring. The new Government must be forever thankful for the overwhelming support of all the people of this country because it was the people, the role of the press, along with all the diplomats and fair-minded persons that enabled us to reach a political solution in this country. However, all this could have been avoided if Lowenfield, Mingo and the APNU/AFC had produced the copies of the SoPs they received from the process on the eve of March 2, 2020.

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar