- elections observer and attorney Selwyn Pieters recounts his experience
The questionable process employed in tabulating the votes in Region Four and the results do an injustice to all of the voters, says attorney Selwyn Pieters, who was an observer at the March 2 general and regional elections.
On his Facebook page, Pieters gave an account of his experiences over the elections period up to March 6. He was present at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Region Four Command Centre on Hadfield Street and High streets at several key moments.
On March 4, Pieters recalled a series of events occurred with the Region Four Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) calling in sick, and Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo also “apparently fell ill” and was taken out on a stretcher. The vote tabulation process was delayed in Region Four and verification that essentially started at 1pm was suspended shortly after 2pm due to an absence of the Statements of Polls (SoP) and the use of a spreadsheet, he said. The attorney wrote that the verification resumed at 6pm and continued for about an hour because the staff complained of being tired.
Pieters said that the process to find a DRO to continue the process was quite difficult and “appeared orchestrated to frustrate the process.” A DRO, who was on site after 11pm to recommence the process, “was sent home and escorted through a back entrance to escape the attention of the observers and political agents,” he wrote. He added that Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield is on a recorded video questioning the integrity of another DRO, “who he insinuated was affiliated with the PPP/C.”
Pieters said that the verification process commenced briefly on March 5 at about 1:25 am. “No APNU/AFC Counting Agents were present and attempts to reach them was futile as the calls went to voicemail. The process was suspended again because of a staff claiming to be tired yet found in a room working with the computer and flashdrive that contained crucial information,” he wrote.
He noted that numerous observers remained until 3am and some remained throughout the night into the morning at the GECOM Command Centre.
Pieters said that he left early in the morning to get some rest and returned to the centre at around 9:30 am.
He said that Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings, arrived around 9:45am and requested a meeting with international observers, who accompanied her to a meeting room that appeared open for her use. “The use of a GECOM meeting room by Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister (and APNU/AFC candidate) Dr Karen Cummings to attempt to intimidate International Observer groups was inappropriate and illadvised. I took her to task there and then for her comments and actions that I found was an attempt to intimidate,” Pieters wrote. He pointed out that Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Mission Owen Arthur “took exception” as did British High Commissioner Greg Quinn.
“The actions that followed of the Deputy CEO of GECOM further exacerbated the situation. Who directed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings, to go to the GECOM Command Centre and relay a threat to take away accreditation of International Observers? Who within GECOM provided her with the meeting room?” Pieters wrote.
He said that following Cummings’ departure, “a bomb threat was apparently called into the building around 10:15 a.m. that caused an evacuation and more delays.”
According to Pieters, Mingo on the afternoon of March 5, then made a declaration of the purported results of Region Four without the process of verification of SOPs being completed in the presence of counting agents of the political
parties and local and international observers. “The declaration lacked transparency. The only political figure whose signature is on the document is Volda Ann Lawrence APNU/AFC candidate and Chairwoman of the PNC,” he wrote.
Stormed
“Tensions were high, the Chairwoman of the Guyana Election Commission, Justice Claudette Singh, was locked in a room and had not emerged for hours. Several persons at the Command Centre (including PPP/C activists and several local observers) stormed the Chairperson’s office in an attempt to check on her welfare, emergency services technicians were called out and an ambulance attended the location. Guyana Police Force was guarding the door which was barricaded causing even more concerns,” Pieters wrote.
He said that the door which led into an office next to the chairwoman’s office was also stormed. “Tactical Services Unit Officers arrived, some of the persons in the unauthorised location were arrested by members of the Guyana Police Force, those persons were subsequently released on station bail and their cellular telephones were seized by the police to analyse for evidence of what took place in the building. Some people in the building including at least one Bar Association observer alleged they were beaten up by Guyana Police Tactical Services Unit members,” he wrote.
He noted that two injunctions were obtained by PPP/C lawyers, signed off by High Court Judge Navindra Singh. “The Marshalls attended GECOM Command Centre but were unable to serve the injunctions that day on the relevant GECOM Respondents. Members of the Guyana Police Force were used to prevent service of the Court’s injunction on the relevant GECOM Respondents,” he contended.
Pieters said that on March 6, the members of the TSU “stormed” the GECOM Command Centre and evicted all of the party representatives, counting agents, and local and international observers.
“The building was locked down at that point. There was also a breakdown of law and order in all major regions in Guyana. Buses and other vehicles were burnt, police officers and civilians were assaulted, one man was killed in an encounter with Guyana Police Force officers who alleged that he chopped two of its members and children were injured when a school bus transporting them were attacked by PPP/C aligned supporters,” he wrote.
“The recent civil unrest in Guyana has part of its genesis in a lack of transparency, lack of accountability, questions about the credibility of the process undertaken by GECOM Officials in the Georgetown-Mahaica District, Region 4,” he said.
“The failure to follow the dictates of section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, Laws of Guyana and the process undertaken in the other nine regions where the Statements of Polls were verified in the presence of counting agents of the political parties and International and Local Observers has called into question the credible basis for the results in Region 4 and compromises the results of the entire elections in Guyana. This led to an appearance of unfairness and compromise the independence of the GECOM,” the attorney wrote
“Further, the unrest is fueled by a feeling of injustice on the part of the electorate from the PPP/C and a triumphant feeling on the part of the APNU/AFC supporters, one of which was disadvantaged and the other benefited by a process at GECOM described above,” he said.
Pieters also observed that in the case currently engaging the court’s attention, the claim that GECOM’s attorney Neil Boston, S.C. was assisted in court on March 7
“by APNU/AFC candidates (and lawyers) Mr Roysdale Forde, S.C. and Mr Darren Wade, whether they appeared on the record or not, goes as well to GECOM’s independence.” Perception is extremely important, he said.
The attorney also said that the police were unprepared, not ready or unable and/or unwilling to properly perform its duties. This was evident on March 4, when a large crowd assembled at the GECOM building without any proper security protocols established for crowd-control, he said
“As well, it was evident on E-Day where the building in Region 5 where the verification was conducted was left unguarded as the police officer left his post before the verification process was completed for that day. It was also clear and apparent where and when, as the videos indicated, police officers were not properly geared or equipped for civil disturbances, resulting in injuries to some of those officers,” he said.
“There can be no doubt that implicit racism, direct racism, systemic racism and institutionalized racism exist in our society and it is openly manifested in its raw, unvarnished and virulent nature during and immediately after the elections. The confrontation at GECOM is one manifestation. The second was the confrontation between Glen Hanoman and the Police Officers,” Pieters wrote.
“The videos of race based, racially fuelled and racialized violence intersected to political affiliation that are online tells the story and those who are involved whether directly and/or the intellectual authors should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the criminal law,” he said.
“The rule of law must prevail. This issues that arose at GECOM are before the Courts. Let the Courts decide whether GECOM’s conduct amounted to a breach of the Constitution and/or the Representation of the People Act. Electoral violence will not help anyone. It will destroy the very fabric of society,” he concluded.