…says PPP/C will not legitimise illegal presidency; will pursue sanctions
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has warned Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) supporters that the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition is preparing to swear in David Granger as President this weekend.
Jagdeo sounded the alarm yesterday during a press engagement at his party’s Headquarters, Freedom House on Robb Street, and he said that should this be realised, the PPP/C would not be recognising a David Granger presidency as legitimate.
“We expect that the same forces will want to push this all through tomorrow (today) in the court to have Granger sworn in by the weekend. From all that we are seeing, we are heading in that direction,” he said.
Jagdeo was at the time referring to an injunction filed by APNU candidate Ulita Grace Moore, who successfully petitioned Justice Franklyn Holder to halt the countrywide recount of votes cast in the 2020 General and Regional Elections, which was part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Initiative.
He was adamant, however, that “We intend to vigorously pursue this matter in the court. We are very disappointed that the court would give an injunction to stall a regional initiative, but we know what the forces at play here are.”
Outlining the PPP’s position in pellucid language, Jagdeo was adamant that, “If Granger is sworn in, the PPP will not recognise him (as President).”
Additionally, he said the party will be pursuing international sanctions against individuals and the country.
“That will create hardships for lots of people, but it will make it very uncomfortable for the cabal, the same ones who are hell-bent on swearing in a president on the basis of these fraudulent results.
Jagdeo said the PPP will, in such a case, be pressing for a stoppage of “all the funds flowing from the multilateral institutions”, and he pointed to what he termed a bilateral curtailment, with Norway deciding to withhold its assistance to Guyana.
He said, too, that the PPP would approach institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) “to shut down all disbursements to Guyana.”
According to Jagdeo, the party would be looking to also ensure that oil proceeds “do not flow to the Government.”
Jagdeo used the occasion to recall that when Granger requested the Caribbean Community’s Chairperson, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Motley, to supervise the recount, he intimated, “I do not want to be sworn in on the basis of results that are not properly verified and do not have the acceptance.”
Jagdeo noted that when he received a call from Prime Minister Mottley, he readily agreed to have the CARICOM team come to Guyana.
“This team came to Guyana upon his request, which I agreed to,” he reiterated.
He said that Granger, in his statement recently, had even pointed to the injunction filed and noted that it would curtail the thrust toward reaching a transparent conclusion to the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The PPP/C General Secretary rubbished the President’s arguments of “independent court action”, and pointed to the fact that the injunction was filed by an APNU candidate.
He was adamant that the President has refused to take responsibility for the delays in the election results’ tabulation, and is in fact providing tacit support.
“He talks about the stalling of his own initiative, and he talks about it being curtailed based on an independent court action, when the court action was brought by his people…Clearly, Granger is at the centre of everything,” Jagdeo declared.
The PPP/C General Secretary dismissed assertions of an emerging cabal within the ranks of the APNU, whose views and positions are divergent from that of the President’s.
Jagdeo insists, however, “Clearly, Granger cannot distance himself from this. He is not powerless…I believe that Granger tacitly approves this whole process.”
The PPP General Secretary suggested that President Granger can in fact publicly declare what he intimated to the Bajan Prime Minister: that he would not be sworn in based on results that are not transparent.
Jagdeo reminded that the President himself had conceded that the stalling of the recount would not lead to the transparent conclusion of the electoral process.
The PPP General Secretary also used the occasion to lament the position taken by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, who has advised the Guyana Elections Commission against gazetting the order for the recount.
According to Jagdeo, however, the CPC is in the employ of Attorney General Basil Williams, and he reminded that the two were together on the campaign trail.
“He is no different from any of the APNU people, and I am sure that he himself is either taking orders from Basil Williams or he is part of this cabal.”
