Leader of the APNU/AFC David Granger is to be blamed for the coalition’s defeat at the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
This is according to Peter Wickham, a noted regional pollster and Head of the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES).
According to the results from the recount exercise, the coalition lost the elections by a significant 15,416 votes.
Wickham pointed out that by delaying and dragging his feet to call elections throughout 2019, following the passage of the No-Confidence Motion in 2018, Granger missed a crucial opportunity to press his advantage against the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), which has now emerged victorious.
“You had the necessary capacity on the ground, to call the elections. But what do you have? You had a year of dithering, where you are arguing over your right to do House-to-House Registration. You have a right to this; you have a right to that,” the pollster said during a programme on News Talk Radio Guyana.
“You challenge the outcome of the No-Confidence Motion. The vote of no confidence was clearly valid. The framers of the Constitution knew what they were doing.”
Wickham had previously produced a poll for APNU/AFC early last year, which had been favourable to Granger. He has also been on record urging the caretaker President to call elections since 2019.
“I feel one of the challenges Guyanese have with this current President, is the fact he does not seem to make decisions quickly and effectively. That’s why the advantage they had, disappeared. I honestly believe, based on my poll data, that the outcome being projected based on the results, is consistent with what would have happened in the space of time of the year,” Wickham said.
“…Guyanese essentially saw things in President Granger that they were uncomfortable with and they felt the economy needed to move. So, I don’t buy this argument of stealing an election. I believe it’s a case where you missed an opportunity to call the election at a time when you had the advantage,” he added.
