Granger urges calm and patience
As he urged calm and patience, President David Granger on Friday once again lamented that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) intervention for a total recount of votes cast at Guyana’s March 2 general and regional elections was “stymied” by a court action.
“I urge all citizens to be calm and patient as we await the ruling of the Supreme Court and the final declaration of results by the Elections Commission,” Granger said in a statement issued by the Ministry of the Presidency.
It did not acknowledge the fact that the court action was initiated by a candidate for the Granger-led APNU+AFC coalition, Ulita Grace Moore, who secured injunctions restraining GECOM, its Chairperson and the Chief Election Officer from authorising the recount to which the president and the opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo had agreed in light of the controversy over the purported results for Region Four.
The president has yet to explain the apparent discord between his commitment to the recount process and the challenge by one of his candidates, which scuttled the CARICOM initiative.
In recent days, he has faced increasing pressure to ensure the recount proceeds and warnings by the international community that a swearing in based on questionable Region Four results would see the administration facing sanctions.
In his statement yesterday, Granger noted that 18 days had passed since the polls and that it was expected that the process would have been completed by this time. “Our democracy has allowed for interested parties to approach the Supreme Court of Judicature for judicial review of our electoral laws. This legal process is ongoing, and we must await the ruling of the Court,” he said.
He also urged that members of the public respect the role of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and to desist from attacks on the Chairperson, the Commissioners and members of the Commission. “The Elections Commission has the sole authority for the conduct of General and Regional elections and must be allowed to function independent of political interference, instruction and influence,” he said.
GECOM’s Chairperson Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo are among the elections officials who have faced severe criticisms for their roles in the contributing to the current controversy over the contentious results, which other contesting parties, and local and international observers have said lack credibility.
The president said he has pledged to respect the constitution and to protect the integrity of the Chairman and members of the Elections Commission and to obey the rulings of the courts. “I am confident that these institutions, once allowed to function without interference, will provide a solution to the present situation,” he noted. “I have maintained that the electoral process must be credible,” he added.
He also said he welcomed the initiative of the Chairperson of CARICOM, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, to assist Guyana by sending a HighLevel delegation of regional professionals to oversee the recount of ballots cast at the polls.
“I am disappointed that the High-Level team of five departed Guyana this week after efforts towards a ‘total national recount’ were stymied following the granting of an injunction by the Supreme Court,” he said.
The president also said elections are as much about the totality of votes as about the quality of relations among citizens. “I urge all Guyanese, therefore, to respect each other as we work together to build a cohesive nation. Violence in any form, at any time and in any place, particularly against innocent school children, must be condemned strongly. The violent attacks on innocent children and law enforcement officers in the Mahaica-Berbice Region (Region Five) were hateful acts of hostility,” he added.