The Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is only concerned with having the electoral process of the March 2 General and Regional Elections concluded in keeping with the Constitution of Guyana and not having fresh elections as is being pushed for by some members within the defeated A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Coalition.
This is the view expressed by PPP/C Candidate, Juan Edghill during an interview with Trinidad-based CCN TV6 on Tuesday where he responded to a number of unsubstantiated claims made by the APNU/AFC’s Executive Member Aubrey Norton on the said programme, the previous day.
“We believe that there needs to be a conclusion of the March 2, 2020 elections. The people have voted, the votes have been counted, the votes have been recounted, and it’s time for a declaration and the swearing in of the next President, a forming of the next Cabinet, the convening of the next Parliament and getting the people’s business moving,” Edghill told host Fazeer Mohamed.
“They [APNU/AFC] claimed victory; and when they realised their fraud was exposed, they then moved to the point of nullifying the elections and call for new elections.”
Edghill, a former minister under the PPP/C government, referred to the APNU/AFC as “sore losers” who want to hold on to power in spite of all the stakeholders sharing one common view that the March 2 elections were free and fair and the results of the national recount should be the basis of a declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
“The recount has shown that the PPP/C has won these elections. It’s time for the elections process to be concluded by way of GECOM…to make the declaration.”
“The APNU/AFC should stop stonewalling and holding the country at ransom, because they don’t want to relinquish power,” Edghill said.
Asked how confident he is that the CCJ will give a favourable ruling to the PPP/C, Edghill responded: “The hard truth is, when the CCJ makes their ruling tomorrow, whichever way it goes, the next step is the Guyana Elections Commission is to meet, get the declaration done and the next President is sworn in.”
“That is the logical conclusion of this matter, any other route will be undemocratic, illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional, and it will be the bullies in the streets seeking to stop a democratic process. And as Guyanese we will not allow that to happen,” the former minister warned.
“Time for them (APNU/AFC) to concede that they have lost the elections…time for them to be truthful with their supporters,” he added.
The National Recount, which was conducted under the scrutiny of a special CARICOM team, shows the PPP/C in a landslide victory with 15,416 more votes than its main political rival, the APNU/AFC coalition.
International powers have called on GECOM to use the recount numbers as the basis of the declaration of a winner.
