Guyana’s opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo Thursday afternoon slammed the APNU+AFC Coalition for what he said was their continued push to thwart the will of the Guyanese people at the March 02 polls.
The People’s Progressive Party General Secretary during an update on his Facebook page accused the Coalition of engaging in “gangsterism and crookery” to further delay a declaration of the elections results.
Jagdeo’s comments came shortly after a court action was filed to prevent the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield from handing over his report to the Commission.
That report would have paved the way for the declaration of the People’s Progressive Party as the winner of the elections.
The court action was filed by Coalition-aligned supporter Eslyn David through Attorney Mayo Robinson and seeks to restrain the CEO from complying with the direction of GECOM’s Chairman, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh to prepare his report based on recount figures.
Those figures show the PPP winning the elections by over 15,000 votes.
Jagdeo called the move to the Court a “disguised election’s petition” amounting to a “criminal conspiracy.”
He said he was hoping for an end to the more than three-month elections ordeal which the country has had to endure.
“We know the drama would have many, many episodes… this is the last element they are seeking to get a ruling to disenfranchise all the people who voted.”
The Opposition Leader was adamant that the Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to halt Lowenfield’s final reporting and the declaration. Jagdeo said the APNU+AFC is hoping to win the elections on a technicality and that cannot happen.
He believes Lowenfield’s alternative tabulation, which subtracts tens of thousands of votes he claimed were affected by anomalies and gives the Coalition a lead “bias and criminal calculations.”
Jagdeo is also of the belief that Lowenfield is serving in the interest of the Coalition and using his statutory office for the benefit of that political party.
“This seems to be the plot by APNU, they will not give up… you can’t disguise anything and put it before the Court of Appeal and rule on technicality. The Court of Appeal we believe has no jurisdiction and we hope the matter will be thrown out in the interest of moving forward.”
The APNU+AFC wanted the Chairman to annul the elections but she had made it clear that GECOM has no such authority and allegations of voter fraud would have to be addressed in an election petition.
Jagdeo cited the report from the CARICOM observers who scrutinized the recount where it called out the APNU+AFC for going on a fishing expedition in attempting to question the credibility of the elections.
That report by CARCIOM noted an inescapable conclusion that the recount results are completely acceptable and should constitute the basis for a declaration.
(News Room)
The lawlessness and vulgarity being carried out by the incumbent is a new low in the political practices of the Caribbean. It depicts the nature of those that are truly power hungry, disregarding all the facts, good counsel and reasoning, to embark upon a dangerous path.
Valid votes only
Jagdeo talking about himself and his gangster friends ploting to overthrow the Government to gain power
Valid votes, and Valid votes ONLY
More and more I’m beginning to think Caribbean News Service is affiliated with the ppp…. it’s quite evident in the reporting ????????♀️????????♀️
Fraud is fraud Guyana! The Bharrat Jagdeo PPP must not be allowed to hijack our democracy like they did December, 1997! This is the defining moment of our democracy ????????