Now that it is clear that the Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) will form the next government after securing a convincing win at the March 2 General and Regional Elections, General Secretary of the Party, Bharrat Jagdeo, has assured persons employed in the public sector that there is no need to worry about their job security as his party will not be engaged in any “witch-hunting” exercise.
“A lot of people; they (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change) are spreading fears in their minds …about losing their jobs but ordinary people don’t have to worry about the PPP, whether they voted for APNU/AFC or not, because we take care of all Guyanese,” Jagdeo told supporters gathered outside the party’s headquarters on Robb Street, Georgetown, last evening.
However, he pointed out that there are “a few persons at the top level” who will have to face the consequences of their actions.
After the APNU/AFC Coalition had won the 2015 national elections by a razor thin majority, it had embarked on a process that saw many senior public officials being terminated on the basis of their perceived political allegiance.
However, senior officials of the PPP/C have assured that they will not go this route once the party settles into office.
Only a few days ago, President-elect Dr Irfaan Ali, had also expressed similar views following a meeting with Commissioner of Police, Leslie James.
The Top Cop came in for heavy criticisms after he had submitted a list of 172 persons to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) claiming those persons were out of the jurisdiction on March 2 – Elections Day, but many persons have since come forward to prove that they were present in Guyana at the time of voting.
“We are not in a witch-hunting exercise, let me make that very clear. We are going to act professionally,” Ali had told media operatives outside the Police Headquarters in Eve Leary.
“We are moving forward in this country, in building a strong country that is inclusive… a country that is tolerant of different ideas, of different views and a country in which all Guyanese must be proud.”
The recount exercise show that the PPP/C garnered 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes in the General Elections. In the Regional Elections, the PPP/C also won with 233,661 votes, while APNU/AFC secured 217,055 votes.
This would mean that the PPP/C secured 33 out of 65 seats in the National Assembly, and the APNU/AFC secured 31. The remaining one seat has been obtained by the joiner party consisting of three of the new parties – A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and The New Movement (TNM).
For the new parties, the numbers in the General Elections are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2,313; Change Guyana – 1,953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2,657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizen’s Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.
Justice Singh has since directed Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to prepare a final report using the recount results, in keeping with Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Chapter 1:03; thereby paving the way for the official declaration of the Election’s Results and the subsequent swearing in of PPP/C’s Dr Irfaan Ali as the ninth Executive President of Guyana.
