US Ambassador condemns attacks on GECOM Chair
United States Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch yesterday urged support for GECOM Chairperson Claudette Singh as she condemned the recent personal attacks on Singh.
“I am shocked and appalled at the dangerous statements and actions that I have seen directed at the
Chairwoman,” Ambassador Lynch told a virtual press conference hosted via Zoom yesterday.
“Chairwoman Singh is a person of the utmost integrity and a distinguished jurist who has given decades of her life in service to her country. I hope that all Guyanese will speak out on her behalf and allow her to continue her work and bring this electoral process to closure,” she added.
Recently, an audio recording purporting to be the voice of Singh and another person in conversation was posted on the internet with persons sharing saying it was evidence that the Chairperson was in cahoots with persons to manipulate the elections results.
It is unclear what evidence was to be derived from the audio or what the persons behind posting of it hoped the public would hear since there was no word about the elections or the results.
Following the release of the audio to social media platforms, there have been derogatory remarks directed at the Chairperson from supporters of the incumbent APNU+AFC.
Singh last week disavowed what purports to be a recording between her and GECOM’s Information Technology Manager Aneal Giddings.
In a brief statement issued last week, Singh said the purported recorded conversation between her and Giddings along with several allegations of a plan to manipulate systems to ensure a certain party is declared the winner of the polls had been brought to her attention. “In this regard, I wish to emphatically state that I do not have knowledge of any such conversation nor am I involved in any plot to ensure any particular party is declared the winner of the 2020 elections. There has been a transparent process to count the votes and the legal process has taken its course. There is absolutely no need for manipulation,” she said.
“The circulation of such recording and peddling of those allegations are designed to create mischief in an already tense and charged political environment. Those responsible for such unlawful actions are urged to desist from doing so immediately to ensure an environment of trust, peace and stability,” she added.
Singh’s decision to accept the recount results has triggered the stepped up attacks by APNU+AFC supporters.