GECOM chair invites commissioners to meeting

-following CCJ ruling

Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission have been invited by Chairperson (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh to a meeting today at 1:30pm to discuss the way forward pertaining to a declaration of results from the March 2nd elections, following yesterday’s Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling.

While there is no set agenda for the meeting, opposition-appointed Commissioner Sase Gunraj says he hopes it is to give a directive to Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to again prepare a declaration, only this time in tune with the specific orders of the CCJ that the results of the recount be used.

There is no guarantee that the meeting will be fully attended. Government-appointed commissioner Vincent Alexander last night told Stabroek News: “I am now trying to access the (CCJ) ruling. Meetings are normally called when we are in possession of the decision with some time to peruse it. That is the standard that the chairman has set.”

The last meeting Singh had summoned had not been attended by government-appointed commissioners Desmond Trotman and Charles Corbin and so there was no quorum.

The CCJ yesterday declared that Lowenfield’s report presented on June 23 and culling over 115,000 votes, is invalid and of no effect, as its President, Justice Adrian Saunders stated that “the court also declared that the report of the Chief Election Officer of 23rd June, 2020 is similarly of no effect.”

“The report by the CEO which was tendered to the commission, which invalidated 100,000 plus votes, has been set aside and Gecom must now direct the Chief Election Officer to provide a proper report,” Gunraj told the Stabroek News in an interview yesterday.

“I hope, because this also came out of ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice this afternoon, that the letter from the Chairman to the Chief Election Officer, dated I believe the 16th of June 2020, was very clear in what was expected from the Chief Election Officer. By now the public is aware that the Chief Election Officer has flouted that direction of the Chairman and by extension that of the Commission, and has provided a fraudulent report. So I expect in short order, that the CEO will be ordered… that he provides that report in short order to the Commission and the next steps here from are very clear, pursuant to the ruling of the CCJ this afternoon,” he added.

While Gunraj hopes that the three APNU+AFC appointed commissioners would be present so that the work of the commission can be executed swiftly and clear the way for the swearing in of PPP/C Presidential Candidate

Dr Irfaan Ali, he said that today’s meeting is dependent on the required quorum, as per law. If they do not show up, the meeting will have to be postponed for Friday, and will only need four persons.

“The process starts over because of additional information from the ruling, so we will have to get the quorum again,” he said.

Article 227 (5) of the Constitution provides for the quorum for a meeting of the Commission to be the Chairman and not less than four members of the Commission – two of whom have been appointed by the President in his own deliberate judgment and two from among members appointed on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.

That subsection directs that (ii) in the case of the declaration of the results of the election of the President, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the following day, at the same time and place and notice of such adjournment shall be given to the absent members; and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present, the members then present, being not less than four including the Chairman, shall be deemed to constitute a quorum and any decision made at that or any such meeting shall be valid in law and binding.”

It would mean that should the government-nominated commissioners again be absent, Justice Singh can hold another meeting on Friday.

Should Lowenfield again disregard the directives of GECOM, PPP/C attorney-at-law Anil Nandlall said that he can be held accountable for violations of the law and face the due processes that comes with such actions. Lowenfield had responded promptly to the ruling of the Guyana Court of Appeal on valid votes and would be expected to show similar or greater alacrity in relation to yesterday’s CCJ ruling.

When Lowenfield was directed on June 16th by the Chairperson to provide the report by June 18th, the meeting on the deadline day had to be postponed as it did not have a quorum, because government-nominated Commissioners Trotman and Corbin were absent.

Opposition-nominated Commissioner Bibi Shadick had told the media that “Corbin fell ill and Trotman said he was threatened and was trying to get security so he can’t come.”

Lowenfield was ordered, via letter signed by the Chairperson, to prepare a declaration of the results of the General and Regional Elections (GRE) using the data generated from the National Recount.

The Elections Commission had also directed that any questions about the validity of the GRE be submitted for judicial review via an elections petition. The decisions yesterday bring PPP/C presidential candidate Irfaan Ali closer to being sworn in as the new President of Guyana.

These results which were certified by GECOM’s Secretariat, show that the PPP/C’s list of candidates has secured 233,336 votes compared to the 217,920 garnered by the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition. This means the PPP/C has won the March 2 General Elections by 15,416 votes. Based on the figures, the PPP/C will have 33 seats in the new Parliament, the incumbent APNU+AFC, 31, and three parties: LJP, ANUG and TNM will share one seat in a list joinder.

On that day also, Lowenfield did not submit a report and GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, in a press statement, claimed that the report was not submitted because a “Notice of Motion” was filed in the Court of Appeal and served on the Chairperson and the Chief Election Officer before the 1 pm deadline.

It is still unclear how a notice of motion and not a court order stalled that process.

Lowenfield would on the 23rd of June submit a report where he discarded 115,787 votes claiming that he only dealt with “valid and credible votes” cast.

His unilateral invalidation of almost 25% of all votes cast at the polls would show a victory for the incumbent APNU+AFC.

It is still also unclear how he determined the count, but he has maintained that it is in accordance with Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act and yesterday the CCJ put the matter to rest saying that his calculations are invalid and of no effect.

The CCJ’s ruling yesterday is seen as clearing the way for Justice Singh to immediately move for the declaration of the recount result which shows that the opposition PPP/C has won the election.