Guyana: luego de tres meses finalizó el conteo de votos con ventaja de la oposición y hoy se oficializa el ganador
Guyana entra a la última fase antes de anunciar los resultados de las elecciones
Guyana entró en la última fase antes de la declaración de los resultados de las elecciones del pasado 2 de marzo, después de que el domingo concluyera el recuento de votos de los comicios celebrados en el país sudamericano, mientras el opositor Partido Progresista del Pueblo (PPP) clama victoria.
«Quiero dejar muy claro que esta fase del ejercicio no termina hasta que se hace la declaración, pero el recuento ha terminado y los resultados muestran exactamente lo que dijimos de que ganaríamos estas elecciones con más de 15.000 votos de diferencia», dijo hoy el candidato del PPP, Irfaan Ali, en declaraciones a medios locales.
Ali señaló que es hora de que el país se calme a la espera de la declaración final de la Comisión Electoral de Guyana (Gecom), que debe realizarse antes del día 16.
La Asociación para la Unidad Nacional + Alianza para el Cambio (APNU + AFC), del presidente, David Granger, advirtió por su parte de que la Gecom no podrá usar ningún voto fraudulento para declarar resultados creíbles de las elecciones.
DENUNCIAN ILEGALIDAD DEL PPP
«Lo que se descubrió durante todo el proceso de recuento y se amplió los primeros días de junio puso al desnudo la ilegalidad del PPP en la perpetración de fraude en las elecciones generales y regionales del 2 de marzo», según un comunicado de APNU + AFC.
La coalición sostuvo que no hay otra opción para la Gecom que rechazar todas las papeletas que no se pudieron validar.
«Estos votos son falsos y fraudulentos», indica el comunicado, además de agregar que «lo que se descubrió en las urnas de los lugares de votación de la costa de la región de Demerara proporciona «evidencia inequívoca e incontrovertible de que se desencadenó un fraude electoral masivo y sistemático el 2 de marzo».
La coalición gobernante dijo que el patrón es claro y muestra que donde ganó el APNU + AFC toda la documentación estaba en las cajas, pero donde lo hizo el PPP faltaban documentos.
«Cuando se abrieron numerosas urnas selladas, exclusivamente en las áreas dominadas por el PPP, faltaban todos los documentos relevantes legalmente requeridos para legitimar el proceso», agrega el comunicado.
El secretario general del PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, desestimó las acusaciones y dijo que la APNU + AFC «perdió las elecciones».
«Perdieron las elecciones y se han negado a aceptar ese hecho», dijo en declaraciones a la prensa de Guayana Jagdeo.
EL PRESIDENTE GRANGER PIDE TRANQUILIDAD
El sábado, el presidente de Guyana, David Granger, dirigiéndose al país dijo que la población debería esperar con tranquilidad a que finalicen todas etapas del proceso de recuento nacional.
«Animo a todos a esperar la finalización de las etapas, que incluyen el recuento actual, los informes del oficial principal de Elecciones y los observadores de la Comunidad del Caribe -Caricom-, la revisión de la Comisión Electoral y las declaraciones de los resultados finales por parte del presidente de la Comisión», matizó.
Granger señaló que el director de Elecciones está obligado a presentar los resultados de cada distrito electoral junto con un resumen de los informes de observación, además de reiterar su promesa de aceptar las declaraciones de resultados de Gecom.
«Estoy comprometido a defender la Constitución y el estado de derecho. Respeto la integridad y la naturaleza autónoma de la Gecom. Cumpliré con la declaración de resultados», concluyó.
LA GECOM INICIÓ EL RECUENTO ENTRE GRANDES MEDIDAS DE SEGURIDAD
La Gecom inició el pasado 6 de mayo, entre grandes medidas de seguridad, el recuento de los votos de las elecciones celebradas el 2 de marzo.
El proceso de recuento inicial 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 el citado equipo de 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 PPP, que tuvo en estas elecciones como alternativa a presidente a Irfaan Ali.
Tanto la oficialista APNU + AFC como el opositor PPP se habían adjudicado la victoria en los comicios del 2 de marzo.
All eyes now on GECOM
With the tedious recount of votes from the March 2nd general elections now complete, all eyes are now on the CARICOM observer mission and GECOM.
The verdict of the three-person CARICOM team is seen as having special weight in the process leading to a final certification of the election result by GECOM.
Today at 3 pm representatives of 10 political parties, two international and several local observer groups will return to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) for the last time.
PPP/C declared winner on Guyana elections
The PPP/C has emerged the winner of March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections following the national recount of the final ballot box (#4877) from Region 4 (Demerara-Mahaica).
The recount was completed at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Sunday.
The PPP/C gained in excess of 15,500 votes over its main rival, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).
The recount was witnessed by representatives of all the nine (9) political parties that contested the elections, including observers from Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and local observers including the Private Section Commission and American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).
On March 2, the original counting of the ballots cast had proceeded smoothly and had been completed in nine (9) regions with the PPP/C in a commanding lead.
However, the tabulation of Statements of Poll (SOP’s) was interrupted in District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) after Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo switched from the legal procedure – which ensures transparency where each SOP.
Each SOP had to be exhibited to the stakeholders present to enable comparison to their copies. However, Mingo diverted to a procedure where the purported numbers from the SOP’s were incorporated into a consolidated spreadsheet.
This led to immediate calls for transparency from both local and international observers.
After recourse to the High Court, when all the parties excepting APNU/AFC protested the sleight of hand that facilitated inflation of the votes for that party.
Following a High Court’s decision, Mingo was ordered to revert to the prescribed procedure but he submitted totals that varied substantially from those of other parties and had the APNU/AFC ahead rather than the PPPC.
Retired Justice Claudette Singh, Chairwoman of GECOM, agreed to a recount of the all votes, which had been proposed by caretaker President David Granger and agreed to by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo after an intervention by several Caricom leaders.
Since then both leaders have recommitted to accepting the results of the recount.
As the recount process wound down, voices from the domestic and international community – local Church leaders, the Private Sector Commission, the US State Department, Ambassadors of the US, EU, UK, Caricom, OAS have been calling for an acceptance of the recount by all the parties leading to a peaceful transition for the new government that has been chosen by the people of Guyana.
Elections 2020: The next steps
Now that the elections recount and formal tabulation of those figures have completed, the nation now awaits a speedy declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). The next step has already been laid out in the order made by the GECOM pursuant to its powers under Article 162 of the Constitution and Section 22 of the Elections Laws (Amendment) Act No 15/2020, published in the Official Gazette on May 4, 2020, and amended by an addendum published in the Official Gazette on May 29, 2020, which sets out the nature, purpose and procedure of the National Recount of the ballots cast on the March 2, 2020 Regional and National Elections.
Therefore, the next steps based on that gazetted order are:
a) The matrices produced for the 10 electoral districts shall then be transmitted to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), who shall then tabulate the same and submit a report, together with a summary of the observation reports for each district to the Commission, on or before the 13th day of June 2020;
b) Within 3 days of receipt of the report from the CEO, the Commission shall deliberate and then request the CEO to use the data compiled to prepare a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act and declare the results of the election.
It is expected that the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, will now follow this order as stipulated. His functions are clear based on the order and as such he has no power to inject a personal opinion or make any recommendation or pass any judgement in the preparation of his reports. His duty is, therefore, to summarise the observation report, total the matrices and prepare the final report in a form provided for by Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. Lowenfield’s role in the process is quite straightforward and does not provide for him to address or opinionate on issues of unsubstantiated allegations that had marred the recount process by a group not willing to let the will of the Guyanese people be upheld.
Winds shifting in oil-rich Guyana, Suriname
Opposition parties pledging oil policy changes in Guyana and Suriname are close to taking power, but incumbents are signaling reluctance to step down.
Guyana’s opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which is leading a recount of votes from 2 March parliamentary elections, reaffirmed to Argus today that it would increase the government’s take in production-sharing contracts signed after ExxonMobil’s watershed 1999 contract.
The PPP party has taken 33 seats with 31 for the ruling PNC party-led coalition, and one seat to be determined, based on a vote recount, the country’s elections commission (Gecom) said yesterday.
Guyana’s president David Granger, who took office in 2015, has said he would accept the results, but his ruling coalition is now claiming «massive electoral fraud». Gecom is supposed to issue a final result by 13 June.
The government of the former British colony is relying on Caribbean trade group Caricom to observe the recount, but it would not allow the Atlanta-based Carter Center to participate.
Washington has hinted at sanctions if the election is not deemed credible.
In Suriname, a four-party opposition coalition led by the Progressive Reform Party (VHP) has taken the lead in 25 May elections on a platform that vaguely promises a «reconstruction» of the country’s natural resources.
Surname’s VHP-led coalition has 33 seats – one short of the majority needed to replace the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) that won 16 seats, the electoral board said on 5 June.
ExxonMobil has a strong presence in both countries. In Guyana, the US major leads a consortium that started crude production in December 2019 from the deepwater Stabroek block, estimated to hold 8bn bl of oil equivalent reserves. Output is supposed to reach 750,000 b/d by 2025.
Suriname’s state-owned Staatsolie is seeking to emulate Guyana’s offshore bonanza. The former Dutch colony currently produces around 16,000 b/d from onshore fields.
ExxonMobil last month acquired a 50pc stake in shallow-water Block 52 from Malaysian state-owned operator Petronas. ExxonMobil already has a contract with Staatsolie for deepwater Block 59 bordering Guyana’s Stabroek.
Suriname’s president Desi Bouterse, who is seeking a third consecutive term, is warning of protests against any perceived foul play. «We are going to request a recount and ask that all the people can see who won and lost where.»
Bouterse was convicted in 2019 to 20 years for the execution of 15 political opponents in 1982. He is also wanted in the Netherlands on drug trafficking charges but retains immunity as long as he is president.
By Canute James
VOLVER
