JFAP stands by call for coalition to concede
‘It is time for this to come to an end. People are tired. There is an air of fear, apprehension and danger. It’s like with the strike of a match everything can go up in flames…we can’t afford this and COVID19 at the same time’
The Justice for All Party (JFAP) maintains its position that the governing coalition of which it is a part should concede the March 2020 elections and allow for Irfaan Ali to be sworn in as president.
This position remains constant even after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), through its General Secretary Joseph Harmon, has claimed that calls to concede are a premature coercive ploy as well as a violation of Guyana’s constitution and laws.
“We have not left the party but our position has not changed,” JFAP General Secretary Savitri Singh-Sharma told Sunday Stabroek, while explaining that neither she nor party leader C.N Sharma had been consulted on the content of the Harmon’s statement.
On the occasion of the ninth anniversary of APNU last week, Harmon attempted to argue that the APNU+AFC “have the greater number of valid votes cast in the elections.”
Contrary to all public evidence from the national vote recount and proclamations from regional and international observers, he argued that the PPP/C has placed obstacles in the way of the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) declaring the incumbent David Granger as president.
Harmon has also claimed that the Caribbean Court of Justice had “invalidated the recount process” – dubbed a distortion of the court’s ruling – and reminded that in three submissions on March 14th, 2020, June 23rd, 2020 and July 11th, 2020, the Chief Election Officer (CEO) has declared a majority of votes cast at the elections for the APNU+AFC.
The CEO’s last declaration is currently the subject of a court action in which a coalition agent is attempting to have the court compel a declaration based on these numbers, including the discredited numbers submitted by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
JFAP, however, has recognised that the opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has won the March 2nd elections and it argued that presidential candidate Irfaan Ali should be allowed to be sworn in without any delay.
In a statement on June 19, the party argued that enough is enough.
“It has been an exhausting 108 days for all the sons and daughters of this Nation,” C.N Sharma noted adding that “this is a time we must be strong and stand together.”
“I simply cannot remain silent on this any longermy love for country is unwavering. Whether we stand on the side of majority or the side of minoritywe are all Guyanese,” he further said.
Singh-Sharma shared similar sentiments when contacted by Sunday Stabroek.
“It is time for this to come to an end. People are tired. There is an air of fear, apprehension and danger. It’s like with the strike of a match everything can go up in flames…we can’t afford this and COVID19 at the same time,” she lamented.
APNU is comprised of the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Justice For All Party (JFAP), the National Front Alliance (NFA), the
People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).