General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Bharrat Jagdeo, today, vowed that the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Coalition will not be allowed to get off scot-free with the blatant attempt by Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to declare fraudulent elections results for District Four.
Jagdeo, during a virtual media engagement, moments ago, blasted the APNU/AFC for their “absolute silence” even as the ongoing national recount is daily exposing how Mingo fiddled with the figures for District Four so that the Coalition would have gotten an overall lead over their main rival – the PPP/C – and to eventually be declared the “winner”.
“If they think they will sweep it under the carpet, it’s not going to happen… We will continue right down to the last box; and we will continue to expose Mingo’s fraud,” Jagdeo vowed.
Jagdeo, a former President, said that the APNU/AFC is acting as if the fraud perpetrated by Mingo never happened.
“Mingo was the only fraud perpetrated in these elections,” he added.
Jagdeo explained that on the East Bank alone, the current recount shows Mingo illegally handed over 5000 votes to the APNU/AFC.
He added that there are many other examples; such as on the East Coast, where the current recount is showing that Mingo heavily inflated votes in favour of the APNU/AFC.
In relation to the claims being made by Coalition officials that persons who are dead and migrated ‘voted’ in the elections, Jagdeo said that all of these claims have been debunked by the persons involved.
He said that for the Coalition to keep pushing this false narrative; it is a clear sign that its Leaders are becoming more desperate now that the recount is coming to an end and it is clearly showing that the Coalition has been defeated at the March 2, polls.
As recent as today, the European Union Electoral Observation Mission (EU EOM) in its final report said that polling procedures on E-Day were properly followed.
The EU EOM also noted that in all electoral districts, except for Region 4, the tabulation process and verification thereof, were conducted in a “transparent and consensual manner”.
Other international and local observers had also stated that it was very difficult for irregularities to occur during voting, considering all the fool-proof systems that were in place to prevent same from happening. This is in addition to the presence of the various party agents, observers, and GECOM staff at each polling station.
The international community has called on GECOM to declare a winner based on the results of the national recount in accordance with its amended Recount Order.
The recount exercise will have to conclude by June 13, after which GECOM would have three days to declare a final result for the elections.
