Coalition wants urgent meeting with GECOM

May 11, 2020 News

The governing coalition, A Partnership with National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) has requested an urgent meeting with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) over what it considers issues of credibility of the election.
The party has, since the recount began, been raising numerous objections, while observing the recount process. Claims range from dead voters to migrant voters to misplaced votes to valid APNU+AFC votes being deemed as spoilt.
The party’s agents have said that so many issues are arising during the process that a question now needs to be asked about the election itself.
In the words of Joseph Harmon, “Is this a true reflection of the will of the Guyanese people? That is the ultimate question that has to be answered.”
Notably, the APNU+AFC coalition has held, including President David Granger, that the March elections were free, fair and credible. But the party’s tone has changed since the recount started.
Also notable is the party’s contention that the declarations currently in place show that it has won, even as it questions the validity of the elections.
Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan said it could very well be that the many discrepancies being raised could lead to revelations that call into question the credibility of the elections.
This is why the coalition, Harmon said, has advocated for a comprehensive examination of the ballot boxes.
“There are some credibility issues which have to be addressed, and that’s because those issues cannot be addressed by just a mathematical calculation.”
“So if you were to say ‘10 for you’ or ’15 for me’, how credible is that 10 or that 15?”
“What has happened to the will of the Guyanese people?”
Harmon said that the recount will see that everyone finds out.
The issues being raised by the agents of the coalition are being noted by GECOM, as they come. GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward has said that the claims are in the observation report that is made during the examination of each ballot box.
But the PRO has made it clear that the objections being made are just claims, and have not yet been substantiated. As a result, she said that GECOM will endeavour to ensure that the language used will present them only as claims. She said the Commission will have to decide what to do about those claims.