Caretaker President David Granger is now expected to consummate his commitment that he gave to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) for a countrywide recount of the votes cast at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections now that the Full Court has blocked the decision by Justice Franklyn Holder to hear a case that halted a decision by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to pursue a recount.
The case brought by A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) candidate, Ulita Grace Moore, was aimed at preventing the Caricom-monitored recount.
Speaking to members of the media following the ruling, Attorney representing the Peoples Progressive Party, Anil Nandlall said: “now that the way has been cleared, we expect that GECOM would now take up the mantle and the commitment that the Chairperson of GECOM gave publicly, gave to several courts…”
According to Nandlall, the GECOM Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh has already indicated that a recount, already decided upon by the Commission, will now be carried out “and that political parties will be allowed to participate fairly and observe that recount.”
He used the occasion to express optimism at the return of the Caricom team of observers led by Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, in addition to the international observers “to ensure that the recount is done in accordance with law and in a transparent manner to remove all doubts and all suspicious from the process so that in the end we will have declared the real results of these elections as expressed by the electorate.”
According to Nandlall, the Caricom Initiative—an agreement brokered by Mottley for a recount and agreed to by President Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo—remains in place.
Nandlall posited that “now that, that injunction has been lifted, that excuse is no longer available to the President and we will expect that the President will consummate his commitment that he gave to Caricom and will allow the recount to take place under the supervision of Caricom and the international observers”.
He used the occasion to note, however, that Justice (retd) Singh in her submission had indicated that GECOM was prepared to go ahead and do the recount without a Caricom input.
