Dr. Jagdeo says he is prepared to defend against any legal action by Nagamootoo

Responding to former APNU+AFC Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s threats to file legal action against him, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has doubled down on his statements that the former PM played an active role in the rigging of the 2020 General and Regional elections.

The GS said that he is fully prepared to defend these statements should Nagamootoo follow through on his threats, affirming that the government has a body of evidence to support its claim.

“He takes umbrage over my use of the word ‘active support’ for the rigging. Nothing could have disguised their attempt to steal the elections. If anyone had the opportunity to read through the articles that he wrote in the period after the 2020 elections, you would see in some of the headlines,” Dr Jagdeo told media operatives at his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.

“We can have this play out in the courts,” he challenged and even quoted a few of Nagamootoo’s columns during that period to support his argument.

In these articles, Dr Jagdeo said that the former PM lambasted regional leaders for their attempts to facilitate an election recount, made claims about foreign interference, and even accused the PPP/C of trying to rig the 2020 Elections.

“He [wrote about] dead people voting for the PPP versus who migrated, and who didn’t have proper documentation, the same PNC propaganda that remains largely unproven. He had disparaging things to say about Mia Mottley and Ralph Gonsalves when they spoke about an open, fair elections process here,” he said.

The GS explained that Nagamootoo was also complicit in the attempt to falsify the election results. He noted that the party still cannot produce the Statement of Polls (SOPs) to reflect that the APNU+AFC won the elections.

The Commission of Inquiry into the events, in its report, also said that there were ‘shockingly brazen attempts’ to rig the elections, Dr Jagdeo reminded.

“Every single international organisation has concluded this. Every right-thinking person in this country has concluded that this happened and until now, Nagamootoo and the others still hold the view that they won the elections, but they can’t produce their statements of Poll,” he pointed out.

According to Dr Jagdeo, Nagamootoo’s active role in the election rigging was also evident in his refusal to vacate the Prime Minister’s residence during the five-month stalemate after the elections were held.

“He knew that even if APNU had won, he still would not have been prime minister, so he should have vacated the premises earlier, but he actually squatted there,” the general secretary said.

He further asserted, “I want him to go down in history because he’s trying to redeem his place in history after his bout of opportunism, becoming a cheerleader for the destruction of the sugar industry, etc.”