David Granger, the Leader of the APNU/AFC Coalition – which has been refusing to concede defeat – on Wednesday claimed that his party his not been claiming victory.
He made the remarks in response to questions about the mounting calls for his party to concede defeat at the March 2, 2020 elections.
“I cannot claim victory, which I have not done and I cannot concede defeat which I have not done unless I am notified formally by the Chairman of the Election Commission what the results of the elections of March 02, 2020 is…,” the APNU/AFC Leader told reporters on the sideline of an event at State House.
Granger’s assertions, however, are not true – since his party would have, since March, began claiming victory – despite the results of the elections proving otherwise.
Meanwhile, apart from pressure from the international community and other local stakeholders, calls for the APNU/AFC to accept defeat have also emanated from within.
In particular, former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin – who is Granger’s son-in-law – had called on the APNU/AFC to concede defeat as he criticised coalition players for misleading its supporters on the matter.
When asked to respond to Gaskin, Granger said “I don’t have any comments on what former ministers say.”
Additionally, the Justice For All Party (JFAP) – a member of the APNU faction of the coalition – had also called on Granger to accept defeat.
Responding to the JFAP, Granger said “I do not dictate what they say although I have every expectation that what they say and do would be in accord with the principles of the entire partnership.”
He added that “we meet and the Justice for All Party has not been excluded especially over the past 17 weeks from any meetings of the APNU. I am not responsible for what they say but I do know is that JFAP acted on its own accord and in our meetings, we clearly outlined the policy of the partnership and if there’s a variance you must ask the President of the Party.”
