Continúa el recuento de votos en Guyana y la oposición pide al oficialismo que «deje de ignorar el fraude»
Oposición de Guyana preocupada por el recuento electoral de comicios de marzo
El opositor Partido Progresista del Pueblo (PPP) mostró este martes su preocupación porque un miembro del personal de Tecnología de la Información de la Comisión Electoral (Gecom) de Guyana fuera asignado al recuento de la región cuatro, por su supuesta implicación en malas prácticas en las elecciones de marzo.
El PPP, por ello, se dirigió a la presidenta de la Gecom, Claudette Singh, para mostrarle su disconformidad con el nuevo puesto desempeñado por Enrique Livan en el recuento electoral, al tratarse, precisamente, de una de las personas sobre la que recaen sospechas por su hipotético trabajo irregular en el recuento de marzo.
La formación opositora solicitó además garantías de que su designación no tuvo nada que ver con la visita del presidente de Guyana, David Granger, el domingo pasado al lugar del recuento nacional, que se realiza en el Centro de Conferencias Arthur Chung de la capital, Georgetown.
‘Queremos recordarles que Livan fue uno de los acusados de malas prácticas durante el proceso de verificación de los resultados del distrito electoral 4’, dijo el representante electoral del PPP, Zulfikar Mustapha, a la presidenta de la Gecom en una carta.
LA POLICÍA INTERROGÓ AL RECIENTEMENTE NOMBRADO
Mustapha recordó además que el pasado mes de marzo, la Policía de Guyana lo interrogó -a Lavin- extensamente sobre la presunta desaparición de una computadora portátil y el paso de datos de la región 4 de una computadora a otra.
Agregó además que la estación de trabajo 10 del Centro de Conferencias Arthur Chung lleva el recuento de los votos del Distrito 4, que está siendo, notablemente, más lento que el de los demás departamentos electorales.
‘Es nuestra firme opinión que hay una deliberada lentitud en el recuento de las papeletas del distrito 4’, dijo.
Acusó a Singh de haber buscado el consentimiento de Granger para promover Livan en el proceso de recuento.
La portavoz de la Gecom, Yolanda Ward, dijo que el nombramiento de Livan no tenía ningún vínculo con la visita del presidente, sino que responde a una rotación de personal.
NIEGAN REUNIÓN SECRETA ENTRE PRESIDENTE DE GUYANA Y LA GECOM
Ward negó además la supuesta celebración de una reunión secreta entre el presidente de Guyana y la alta gerencia de Gecom, como insinúa el PPP.
El presidente Granger se ha negado a revelar detalles de conversaciones confidenciales con miembros de la Gecom y señaló que que es un asunto que le corresponde aclara a la entidad pública.
La Gecom destacó que el presidente de Guyana, durante su visita el centro de recuento de votos, agradeció a los participantes por sus esfuerzos.
La Gecom informó de que el secretario general del PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, también visitó el centro de recuento de votos y se reunió brevemente con Singh la semana pasada.
El candidato del PPP, Irfaan Ali, ha acudido diariamente al centro para seguir de cerca el recuento.
Granger había dicho el pasado domingo que aceptará cualquier decisión de la Gecom sobre el resultado de las elecciones generales del 2 de marzo de 2020.
La Gecom inició el pasado día 6, entre grandes medidas de seguridad, el recuento de los votos de las elecciones celebradas el 2 de marzo.
PROCESO PARALIZADO POR DEMANDAS JUDICIALES
El proceso de recuento fue paralizado por demandas judiciales bajo sospecha de falta de transparencia e irregularidades.
El recuento está supervisado por observadores de la Comisión del Sector Privado, representantes locales de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), la Cámara de Comercio de Estados Unidos-Guyana y un equipo de alto nivel de la Comunidad del Caribe (Caricom).
Guyana celebró el pasado 2 de marzo elecciones generales y regionales, cita en la que dos partidos se jugaron la victoria, con el trasfondo de la disputa con Venezuela por la región de Esequibo.
Granger, candidato de la coalición, convocó las elecciones tras la presentación con éxito de una moción de no confianza en su contra en diciembre de 2018 -con 33 votos a favor y 32 en contra- por parte del opositor Partido Progresista del Pueblo (PPP), que tuvo en estas elecciones como alternativa a presidente a Irfaan Ali.
Tanto la oficialista Asociación para la Unidad Nacional + Alianza para el Cambio (APNU + AFC) como el opositor PPP se habían adjudicado la victoria en los comicios del 2 de marzo.
PPP notes difference of 3, 545 votes in boxes counted so far for District 4
With just 20% of the 879 ballot boxes for District 4 counted in the ongoing recount exercise, the People’s Progressive Party on Tuesday said it has already found 52 instances where the figures were altered by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
PPP’s General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo said the changing of the figures by increasing those of the APNU+AFC coalition and decreasing those of the PPP were clearly done in favour of the coalition.
Jagdeo, in a virtual briefing, said votes in the 52 boxes were increased by 2827 for the APNU+AFC and reduced by 718 for the PPP.
“If you add the two that means the results in just those 52 boxes would be off the authentic results by 3545 votes,” he explained.
Jagdeo said it is time the APNU+AFC stop ignoring the fraud committed by Mingo in its favour and stop making statements to taint the credibility of the elections.
“The only thing not credible about these elections is the Mingo declaration and that’s the elephant in the room; it stares them in the face and they don’t mention it at all,” he added.
Jagdeo said the PPP will continue to monitor the recount of District #4 and provide periodic updates whenever it has fresh analysis on the “fraud” committed by Mingo.
The recount was decided on by the Guyana Elections Commission after the PPP first objected to Mingo’s declarations and later joined by other political parties.
Chief Justice Roxane George on March 11 ruled that Mingo had breached the country’s electoral laws when he failed to display and use the numbers from the Statements of Poll from each polling station when doing a tabulation to determine the number of votes cast for each party.
Despite these objections, the APNU+AFC has repeated claimed victory in the March 02, 2020 elections and have called for a declaration to be made based on Mingo’s declaration.
During a visit to the recount site on Sunday, President David Granger said he would abise by whatever results GECOM declares.
‘I am confident’ …President Granger not expecting a landslide victory but confident
While there has been unwarranted interference in the Guyana’s elections process from various groups, President David Granger is confident that Guyana will soon conclude its elections process to the satisfactory international standards.
The President said too that while he is confident in his party’s ability to win the elections, he does not expect a landslide victory based on Guyana’s complex social structure. Even so, he said that his government will continue to pursue a form of government that is inclusionary.
He said that his government wants to have mature discussions with the Opposition, which represents a large portion of the Guyanese society, to deliberate on a way forward in the interest of all. “Let’s not bother with landslide. The parties are near equal,” the President said. “By formula — as has been laid out by my colleague Rupert Roopnaraine — people who win 51 per cent of the vote must not behave as if they won 100 per cent of the vote and people who only got 49 per cent of the vote must not be treated as if they got no per cent of the votes and, I live by that. I would like to see an inclusionary form of government
Appearing on the Mark Benschop Radio 107.1 FM on Monday evening, President Granger spoke to the many cases in which the country’s previously smooth electoral process was negatively impacted. Very topical during his discussions with the host, was the involvement of the diplomatic community from March 2, 2020 to times present and specific acts of the main Opposition which led to unwarranted disruptions.
Unwarranted interference
Since the passage of the no-confidence motion against his government, the President said that he has witnessed forms of “hooliganism” meted out by the Opposition which did not work to benefit the Guyanese society in any way. The beginning of such acts, he said, was the incident in 2019 whereby the protesters led by People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) leaders held Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings hostage in her vehicle for over half an hour blocking her way and while others hurled threatening and foul remarks to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson as he sought to enter the Pegasus Hotel.
Inside the Hotel, a former PPP/C Member of Parliament interrupted the keynote remarks of the President with shouting and placards and had reason to be escorted out of the building.
VERY DISAPPOINTING
Similar disruptions were witnessed months later at the GECOM Region Four tabulation center when the Opposition stormed the center seeking to the enter the GECOM Chair’s Office and later protested violently in their strongholds injuring several school children and police officers on the job. “I never really expected to see it again at the GECOM building and during the recount process and, worse yet, I didn’t expect to see it on the streets at Tain on the Corentyne, at Bush Lot and at Bath Settlement at Lusignan. This type of hooliganism doesn’t have a place in modern Guyana,” the President said.
Joe Singh and ‘dogs of war’
Following the violent event, well-known Major General (Retired) Joe Singh, instead of condemning the act had written a letter urging the President to call off the “Dogs of War” while claiming that he had “forgiven” the President for not selecting him as GECOM Chair in 2019. The President said: “It is very disturbing that some spokespersons get out and talk about ‘Dogs of War’ but they don’t criticise the persons, the masterminds behind the stoning of school buses. There is no justification in modern society for adults to stone a school bus in which they know school children were travelling.”
Asked to give his thoughts on the silence of members of the various observer missions who were present in Guyana and at the Region Four Command Center as it was stormed, President Granger said that though he cannot state their thoughts, it is indeed disturbing.
Extraordinary behaviour
He said that while he has observed certain actions and non-actions on the part of some, he has chosen not to make condemning remarks. “Some of the behaviour was quite extraordinary, especially with regard to the conduct of persons who enjoyed diplomatic status. It is all quite strange. People who should be representing the interest of friendly foreign countries should behave in such a manner but it’s not my style to criticize diplomats,” he said.
The Head of State stated that Guyana has diplomats around the world and he would not allow them to criticise what the President of a foreign country says or how their elections are run. This is an act in respect of the country’s sovereignty that he had expected in return.
He said that while some embassies have been very respectful — which the government has recognised – this is not the case for all diplomats.
“There are certain international standards which diplomats are expected to confirm to or comply with and I would urge that, on the basis of reciprocity people, should not intrude on the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.
Premature remarks
Speaking to the recent remarks of Bruce Golding, former Prime Minister of Jamaica and head of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Observer Mission to Guyana for the March 2020 elections, the President reminded that the recount process is not yet completed and should be allowed its due course before judgments are made.
Only eight days into the national recount, expected to give Guyanese finality on the elections impasse, Golding — a known long-time friend of Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo — had claimed that there was a “transparent effort to alter the results of an election” based only on 20 ballot boxes from Region Four.
However, the President said on Monday: “I thought that the remarks were premature and we should wait on the end of the process.”
SANCTIONS ARE UNJUSTIFIED
He also stated that while some political parties in Guyana have been calling on the diplomatic community to heap sanctions on Guyana for their own reasons, one must consider what would happen to the Guyana economy were any form of sanctions to be applied. He said that those who call for this must consider that it would be “extremely damaging” on the country for a very long time and he does not take such calls lightly.
“I do not take these as empty threats and I would not like to see those sanctions inflicted on my country; on my people,” the President said.
“I am concerned about what has been said and the threats that have been made and I do believe that those countries which have indicated that there will be sanctions and those international organisations which are likely to implement sanctions could harm Guyana in a very serious way. But my government has done nothing wrong and I do not think those sanctions could be justified if it is shown that my government has behaved legally and that the elections process was a legitimate one and that it is satisfying international standards.”
I RESPECT THE LAW
During the interview, Benschop also posed the question as to why the President did not allow for his swearing-in after the second declarations were made for Region Four. However, the President made it clear that he respects that such an act must come solely from the Elections Commission. “I have never received such a declaration from the Chairman of the Elections Commission.
The Chairman of the Elections Commission is a person I respect,” he said. “I know what some of my supporters have said but I cannot swear myself in and I cannot demand, I have to wait on the process and that process will be determined by what is written in the Constitution, what the rulings of the Court are and what the Commission declares.” He pointed out that even before the March 2, 2020 elections he has always been guided by the Constitution of Guyana and will not do anything which is in collision with the Constitution.
Coalition says 18 persons who voted for APNU+AFC at Belladrum were out of the country
An agent of the Coalition APNU+AFC on Tuesday evidently claimed 18 persons who voted for the said Coalition were out of the country, drawing ridicule and buying into claims that the Coalition has been wildly calling out multiple serial numbers from the Voter’s List to claim persons ticked off as having voted were either out of the country or dead.
The general pattern has been for the Coalition to claim that votes were cast for the PPP in the name of those persons who were dead or migrated.
On Tuesday, Ballot Box 5055 was counted for District 5. It is from a polling station which was housed at the Belladrum Secondary School, West Coast Berbice.
The PPP only got three votes at that station, The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) received two votes and A New and United Guyana (ANUG) received one vote. The Coalition received 250 votes. But APNU+AFC agent Colin Bynoe called out 24 serial numbers, claiming that those persons were out of the country.
Given the total votes received by the other parties was six, it would obviously mean the Coalition was objecting to at least 18 persons who voted for it.
The names of all those the Coalition objected were actually ticked off as having voted, the recount processed showed.
