Elecciones en Guyana: la Corte de Justicia del Caribe valida recuento de votos que da ganador al opositor Irfaan Ali
Lowenfield must produce report as already directed by GECOM Chair – CCJ
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Wednesday ruled that Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, must produce his report as already directed by Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh.
The CCJ also invalidated the recent report submitted by Lowenfield, in which he had discarded over 115,000 votes.
The CCJ ruled that the Lowenfield’s report, incorporating so-called irregularities, is of no consequence.
Moments ago, the CCJ accepted jurisdiction in the case filed by the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali and General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo.
Ali and Jagdeo challenged a ruling of Guyana’s Court of Appeal in the case filed by APNU/AFC supporter, Eslyn David.
Justice Singh had written to CEO Lowenfield directing him to prepare a final report based on the results of the National Recount, which lasted for over 30 days at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC).
“Pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, you are hereby requested to prepare and submit your report by 13:00 hrs on June 18th, 2020 using the results of the recount for consideration by the commission,” Singh wrote in her letter to Lowenfield.
The CEO was required to tabulate the 10 Statements of Recount (SORs) certificate to fulfill his constitutional and statutory obligations.
The results, which constitute data generated from the 2,339 Statements of Recount (SORs), show that the PPP/C won the March 2, polls with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. The APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizen’s Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.
All the major international powers have also called on GECOM to use the results of the recount as a basis for its declaration.
Full ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice
The full ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice in the case Mohamed Irfaan Ali, et al v Eslyn David, et al:
[gview file=»https://www.nodal.am/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Ali-and-Jagdeo-v-David-and-others-Judgment-Summary-final.pdf»]CCJ Judgment Guyana Elections 2020 – Mohammed Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al
CCJ Judgment Guyana Elections 2020 – Mohammed Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al July 8th 2020
Publicado por Peoples Progressive Party/Civic en Miércoles, 8 de julio de 2020
Jagdeo calls for swift declaration of poll results, says “we’re vindicated”
“Today, we’re vindicated”. That was the immediate reaction of Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, to the landmark decisions handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), moments ago, paving the way for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to make an official declaration of the March 2, polls, on the basis of the recount figures.
“So we are extremely pleased that the Caribbean Court of Justice has set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal of Guyana.
“We believe from the beginning that the decision of the COA was perverse, we argue that they lacked jurisdiction, that the Article that they used to infringe on other matters relating to the elections has nothing to do with the qualifications of the President. And therefore, they were acting outside of their jurisdiction”, Jagdeo said during a virtual media engagement moments ago.
Update by General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo July 8th 2020
Update by General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo July 8th 2020
Publicado por Peoples Progressive Party/Civic en Miércoles, 8 de julio de 2020
“Today we’re being vindicated, in the sense that the COA acted in excess of its declaration”.
CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders, during his ruling, took great pains to explain what a valid vote is in accordance with the Representation of the Peoples Act.
He mentioned that during the recount process, only valid votes were counted after invalid votes were weeded out.
“We are extremely pleased that they (CCJ) also set aside Lowenfield’s report that had fraudulently disenfranchised over 115,000 persons.
“But in doing so, the President of the Court, reading out part of a summary of a unanimous decision, he pointed out how Lowenfield had acted unlawfully,”.
According to the CCJ, Lowenfield has no authority to invalidate any vote. That authority can only be exercised through an elections petition after the results have been declared.
“The CEO is bound…he needs to prepare the report in accordance with the instructions given to him by the Chair of GECOM which is to use the recount data, which shows a victory for the PPP/C,” Jagdeo noted.
“The CEO has clear guidance now, let us see if he will continue to act unlawfully or in accordance with the guidance of the CCJ, a superior court,” Jagdeo said.
According to Jagdeo, now that the entire Commission and the CEO have been given “clear guidance” from the CCJ as to what constitutes a valid vote and the next steps that should be taken, his party’s expectation is that the Commission would move “swiftly” to make a declaration on the basis on the recount figures as directed by the CCJ.
The CCJ earlier today (Wednesday) ruled that Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield must produce his report as already directed by Chairperson of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh.
The CCJ, in its ruling, invalidated the recent report submitted by Lowenfield, in which he had discarded over 115,000 votes. The Court said that the report incorporating so-called irregularities is of no consequence.
The results, which constitute data generated from the 2,339 Statements of Recount (SORs), show that the PPP/C won the March 2, polls with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. The APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizen’s Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.
Granger maintains claims of fraud, says matter now has to go back to GECOM
Despite today’s ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), caretaker President David Granger is still insisting that there was widespread fraud in the March 2nd general elections and that the matter will now have to be finally decided by GECOM.
Granger’s stance puts the pressure on GECOM Chair Claudette Singh who has already said that the recount result is what shall be declared. The recount result shows a win for the PPP/C.
A statement issued by David Granger today follows:
“Our party, our partnership and our Coalition are committed to the rule of law. The CCJ has not allowed the position that our Court of Appeal has taken but it means that the matter will now have to go back to the Election Commission. So the matter is not closed, it now has to go back to the Election Commission. We all have to be patient. We all went out on the 2nd of March, March passed, April passed, May passed, June passed and now we’re in July. It is the first time this has happened in the history of our country and it has happened because there are some bad elements out there who tried to manipulate the vote by having votes recorded for dead people (and) people who had migrated, more votes in a polling station than they had electors. We know all of the faults, our party, our partnership and our coalition has been bringing these complaints of abuses and irregularities to the attention of the public and also to the attention of the court. (The CCJ) has made no coercive orders, that means they have not given any instructions to what GECOM is empowered under the laws of Guyana to do. We will have to assess the situation in which we are in now. The matter will go back to the Election Commission but as far as we are concerned we have evidence that there has been massive fraud and irregularities and we will continue the fight to make sure that your votes are counted.”
VOLVER
