Caretaker President David Granger made a post on his Facebook page accusing the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of attempting to frustrate the recount process and the PPP/C has come out swinging, hard, at Granger.
Granger, on Facebook, said “The PPP are trying to frustrate the recount process after losing the elections. All Guyanese must support GECOM and support the national recount of all ballots.”
This did not go down well in the PPP/C camp and the party has since accused Granger of suffering from ‘selective amnesia’ and sought to set his record straight.
According to the PPP/C, though Granger would like “us all to forget, the fact is that following his request to Caricom for a supervised recount it was the PPP that agreed as a means of finding a way forward. On the other hand, it was Granger’s people – inclusive of two APNU+AFC candidates – who went to the court to block the recount. All of Guyana and possibly the world looked on in shock as fumigation of the venue and other infantile manoeuvres were employed by Granger’s people to stymie the Caricom supervised recount.”
Granger’s cohorts
The party, which publicly released the Statements of Poll (SoPs) it collected following the March 2 General and Regional Elections, reminded Granger that it is his people at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that are frustrating the process. They noted that it is former PNC Vice Chair and current GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander, who sought to defend the outrageous 156 days’ recount proposal brought to the Commission by APNU/AFC sympathiser Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield.
Additionally, it was caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who suggested that the high-level team from Caricom be quarantined for 14 days and the recount process not breach the curfew hours of 06:00h to 18:00h.
In an effort to jolt Granger from his partial blackout of memory, the party reiterated its proposal for a recount lasting no more than 10 days.
Identifying the duplicitousness of the ‘Granger cabal’, the PPP/C repeated that it was his people who voted against having an independent auditor present to observe the count; voted against live-streaming the count so that all Guyanese can see that it is done transparently; and wanting to limit the number of observers at each counting station.
Whole world, all of Guyana
In adding facts in an effort to clear the delusion from Granger’s mind, former Opposition Chief Whip and Executive Member of PPP, Gail Teixeira said it is factual that the PPP/C won the elections and that the APNU/AFC coalition is doing everything to clench to the final threads of power.
She noted that Guyanese have been intellectually assaulted and psychologically abused for the last 17 months following the defeat of the Granger-led APNU/AFC Government by the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion on December 21, 2018, and its defeat once again at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
It is now 54 days and Guyanese are without a date for the commencement of the recount of the votes cast.
Like her party, Teixeira reminded Granger of the facts surrounding the current attempts to frustrate the process.
She attempted to jog his memory by stating that it was Granger’s candidate, Ulita Moore, represented by another APNU candidate, Roysdale Ford, who approached the court to block the recount; and it was the Granger-led machinery in cahoots with the GECOM Secretariat that proposed to have the recount done in 156 days, supported by Vincent Alexander and the two other Granger-appointed Commissioners, and opposed the PPP proposal to have it done in 10 days.
“One must wonder why Granger, the First Lady and other leaders of his party, who seem so certain that their party won the elections, are so intransigently opposed to releasing copies of the SoPs that are in their possession? One also must wonder how he has conveniently forgotten once again that it is he who called on GECOM to publish the SoPs in the 2011 elections which was granted? He has forgotten that the same request was made by the AFC in the 2006 elections and that too was granted. Mr Granger may delude himself but the whole world and all of Guyana already knows who won the March 2, 2020 elections – the PPP/C won,” the former Home Affairs Minister argued.
She added that the whole world, represented by all the international and regional bodies, is demanding transparent, timely, fair and credible results of these elections, nothing less, or it will not recognise the Government.
“…It is this GECOM arm of the rigging cabal who voted against having an independent auditor present to observe the count, who voted against live-streaming the count so that all Guyanese can see that it is done transparently, who voted for a limit on the number of observers at each counting station; who supported the Lowenfield plan, although the process outlined is radically different from the procedure set out in the Representation of the People’s Act and is therefore not in accordance with the law,” she added.
The seasoned politician said that there is still a chance for Granger to redeem himself and ensure the expeditious delivery of results – and this is by the support the PPP/C proposals.
