Outrage grows over dumping of 115,787 votes by Lowenfield
Mia Mottley asks:
`…on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Election Officer determine that he should invalidate 1 vote, far less over 115 000 votes when the votes were already certified as valid by officers of the Guyana Elections Commission in the presence of the political parties?’
Expressing bewilderment that the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield could discard over 115,000 votes, CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley yesterday emphasised that the results of the recount of the March 2nd General Elections are the valid figures and she slammed what she termed “gamesmanship” in the electoral process.
The video statement by the Barbados Prime Minister, who has invested CARICOM’s energies in a painstaking observing of the 33-day recount process, will be seen as upping the pressure on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to conclude the process and for the incumbent APNU+AFC to accept the result which shows that the opposition PPP/C has won.
While she did not identify APNU+AFC, much of the stalling of the electoral process has been attributed to it. There have also been attempts to rig the general elections in its favour. Lowenfield’s astounding report to GECOM on Tuesday in which he lopped off 115,787 votes with the intention of handing victory to APNU+AFC has been apprehended in local circles as another of these attempts.
Mottley expressed sadness that the country is still to see an election result 114 days later and at the same time expressed determination that democracy must triumph.
“Many of us have observed with great sadness what has been transpiring in Guyana. It is more than 100 days since the people of Guyana went to the polls. And yet there is no declared result. From the very beginning we have been clear and said consistently that every vote must count and every vote must be made to count in a fair and transparent way.
“Regrettably we have seen a level of gamesmanship that has left much to be desired and has definitely not portrayed our Caribbean region in the best light. This is definitely not our finest hour and we must not shy away from that reality”, she declared.
Mottley said that CARICOM is concerned at reports that Lowenfield has submitted a Report to GECOM which is contrary to the directions given by the Commission and which does not reflect the results of the recount process as certified by the very staff of GECOM and witnessed by representatives of the political parties.
“Indeed, these numbers and the certification of them were also witnessed by our CARICOM Observer Team. They travelled to Guyana (in spite of the pandemic and the risk to themselves) and they scrutinised the recount process.
“The CARICOM Observer Team was of the unshakeable belief that the people of Guyana expressed their will at the ballot box on March 2 and that the results of the recount certified as valid by the staff of GECOM led to an orderly conclusion on which the declaration of the results of the Election would be made”, she said adverting to a key passage in the report produced by the three-person observer team on June 15.
“Therefore, we must ask – on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Election Officer determine that he should invalidate 1 vote, far less over 115 000 votes when the votes were already certified as valid by officers of the Guyana Elections Commission in the presence of the political parties”, Mottley asked, echoing the bewilderment locally about his actions.
She said that if there is
`Regrettably we have seen a level of gamesmanship that has left much to be desired and has definitely not portrayed our Caribbean region in the best light. This is definitely not our finest hour and we must not shy away from that reality’
any evidence of fraudulent or improper conduct then there is a clear and well accepted route to deal with these matters via an Election Petition to an Election Court.
“Any attempt to provide numbers different from those certified by the staff of GECOM has left many in shock and wondering what next will happen to frustrate the will of the Guyanese people.
“The role and focus of political parties must be useful and not obstructive in embracing and promoting the clear and expressed will of the people. When we confuse and frustrate that will, is when we begin to sow the very seeds of discord and acrimony that we are sworn to dissuade and discourage”, Mottley declared.
Strong view
She said that the Community holds the strong view that no voter must be disenfranchised in determining the credibility of this or any election.
“It is this commitment to a fair and transparent political process that led us to send 2 Electoral Observation Missions – one for the Elections and one for the recount. In addition, 4 Prime Ministers accompanied me to talk to both sides and to urge patience especially after the death of 1 person (in elections unrest)”, she said.
Despite having acclaimed the CARICOM observer team as the “most legitimate interlocutor” on the recount process, caretaker President David Granger has not addressed its findings which show that the result is in favour of the opposition. It had been believed that Granger and his governing APNU+AFC would accept the findings of the CARICOM observer report. Instead, Granger and his government have now sidestepped the report via legal action at the Guyana Court of Appeal by one of its supporters. That move has in turn triggered an approach to the Caribbean Court of Justice by PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and the party’s presidential candidate Irfaan Ali.
Yesterday, Mottley thanked the Guyanese people for their patience.
“As you await the finalisation of this process, we urge again that you be patient and that you be committed to the fact that no electoral process can replace the life of any Guyanese. There must be room for all regardless of who wins and who loses.
“I assure you that the Community remains committed to the people of Guyana and remains resolute that the report of its Observer Mission was very clear in its conclusions as to the will of the Guyanese people as reflected in the recount which they monitored”, she said.
After the aborting of the first attempt by CARICOM to observe the recount, Mottley had famously said that there appeared to be forces who were against the recount being done.
A joint statement yesterday from the US, the UK, Canada and the European Union also addressed the need for an urgent declaration using the recount figures as did another from the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland.