Jagdeo, speaking with reporters after emerging from a meeting with the Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, this morning, maintained that the law is clear in relation to the declaration of the elections results and any action outside of that would not be tolerated.
He cited Article 177(2)B of the Constitution which says that the candidate who heads the List with the most votes is “deemed” the President and shall be so declared by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
That section of the Constitution states: “where there are two or more presidential candidates, if more votes are cast in favour of the list in which a person is designated as presidential candidate than in favour of any other list, that presidential candidate shall be deemed to be elected as president and shall be so declared by the Chairman of the Elections Commission…”
As such, Jagdeo argued that: “It has been established that the PPP’s list has the most votes; and therefore Irfaan Ali is already deemed the President of Guyana.”
He added that the PPP/C, and the entire country, is now waiting on GECOM to move ahead and make the official declaration.
“So all of the shenanigans that are going on now to prevent that declaration; it’s not going to work because that is the supreme law of the country,” he warned.
In addition to the current financial crisis gripping the sugar sector, Jagdeo highlighted many other issues which he said, need to be addressed urgently, but are being affected due to the delay in GECOM’s official declaration of the results.
“That is why we need the declaration early so we can address these issues,” he told reporters.
Following the completion of the national recount of the ballots cast in the March 2, polls, the final result shows that the PPP/C will form the next government.
