Riot cops quell Mon Repos standoff over alleged fake IDs
An allegation of attempted voter fraud sparked a standoff last evening at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, where riot police were summoned to keep the peace.
Around an hour before the 6 pm closing of the polls, there was a tense standoff after APNU+AFC coalition supporters accused the opposition PPP/C of distributing fake Identification cards to their supporters in an attempt to get them to vote more than once at the Mon Repos Primary School.
A number of persons lined the streets within the vicinity of the school after the allegations were made.
Prior to the police being summoned to the area, video footage was circulated on Facebook showing PPP/C candidate and Election Day agent Anil Nandlall being grilled by Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally and Attorney General Basil Williams at the polling place.
In the footage, Ally told Nandlall of allegations that he was assisting in the distribution of fake ID cards. Nandlall denied the allegations and noted that he was called to the polling place because he was told of the gathering of a crowd in the area.
According to supporters of the APNU+AFC coalition, a tent was seen set up in the yard obliquely opposite the polling place. They accused those under the tent of distributing ID cards to persons.
When Stabroek News arrived at the area, a white tent was being taken down within the yard as others shouted at those doing the disassembly and called for police to arrest them.
As a result, supporters of the coalition accused those persons who had been within the tent of distributing fake ID cards. One of the coalition supporters was heard shouting that she saw a person entering the yard, changing their clothing and collecting cards before entering the Mon Repos Primary School.
The police managed to separate the groups. Residents of Mon Repos were kept to the southern and northern sides of the Railway Embankment, while APNU+AFC coalition supporters stood along the roadway.
At around 5 pm, Nandlall had returned to the polling place to clarify his presence there earlier. “I have rejected it all. I came here because there was an unruly mob that gathered here and I was summoned from Annandale to come to deal with a situation with these people making all kinds of accusations and trying to disrupt the peace,” he told reporters.
At that time, the coalition supporters could be heard shouting for the police to arrest the occupants of the property where the tent had been set up. One police inspector who was present at that time, in an attempt to keep the peace, directed those gathered outside the polling place that they should be 200 yards away from the polling place. The inspector was, however, challenged by a member of the public, who asked him to show the exact 200yard distance. In response, the officer noted that they had no means to measure the exact distance at that time but asked persons to keep away from the place of polls.
After making his way out of the polling place for a second time, Nandlall presented a young man to the members of the media and residents of Mon Repos as he explained that that was his reason for showing up to the polling place the first time. He explained that the young man and another man share the same name, “Krishna Persaud,” and that the polling officers had inadvertently marked off the wrong one when he voted earlier in the day. “When the other Krishna Persaud voted earlier this morning, the [PO] Presiding Officer marked off his name, obviously carelessly, because he didn’t look at his ID card. So, when he presented himself to vote, the PO said he already voted,” Nandlall said.
He added that Persaud was then taken away by the police and then taken into custody. He explained at that time after he found the young man and was able to get him released from police custody, he was trying to get him to vote, however his
Identification card was kept by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
As the time drew closer to the official close of the polling place, the crowd at Mon Repos grew and more police officers arrived at the scene to keep the peace. At that point, the crowd became louder than they were earlier. Some hurled ethnic slurs at others.
“Since morning me deh hay and me time just wasting… since morning till now me can’t get to vote,” Persaud said as Nandlall chimed in, while stating that it was voter harassment. Nandlall added that there was a similar incident that occurred at the same polling place earlier in the day.
Nandlall later told Stabroek News that Persaud was given the opportunity to vote.
He also beseeched the residents of Mon Repos that were in support of the PPP/C that they should stay in the streets until the supporters of the coalition who were not residents of Mon Repos left. However, he asked them to be respectful, peaceful and to not block the roadways or block vehicles from passing. He reminded the crowd of the comments that Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence made during the campaign—when she urged coalition supporters to be vigilant outside of places after the close of polls—and the
supporters in response stated that they would stay there until the other party’s supporters are gone. The crowd began to decrease in numbers around 8 pm as those officers who were clad in riot gear took up positions on the bridge of the Mon Repos Primary School.
PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo in a statement on the situation, said the allegations of fake ID cards being distributed reflect a “desperate attempt by APNU”. “We want people to go to the polls, to vote peacefully even in APNU strongholds, everywhere, people must have a fair chance of voting”, he said.