Electoral corruption by PPP must end – Pres. David Granger
DPI, Guyana, June 29, 2020
His Excellency, President David Granger has emphasised the need for a total revamp of Guyana’s electoral system given the anomalies and irregularities that were discovered during the national recount of the March 02, 2020, General and Regional Elections.
The Head-of-State said that the system has been corrupted by the opposition PPP who have meticulously and methodically tampered with the votes.
“The critics of the Government over the last 119 days must accept that the electoral process was corrupted by the PPP and that has to be brought to an end,” President Granger said during an interview on Benschop Radio 107.1FM on Monday.
He singled out the CARICOM team’s report on the recount process, noting that while the numerical tally favoured a particular side over the other, the quality of the report must be examined.
“The report is not simply a tabulation; it is also a qualitative report and when you read the report and the recommendations of the CARICOM team you will see how serious the issues are,”he stated
The President noted that the report recommended an investigation into missing documents, a total re-registration of all voters in Guyana and“a change in the structure of the Elections Commission and given all the regularities they recommended a political audit in the electoral structure.”
However, the Head of State noted the need for a deeper investigation into the anomalies and irregularities which occurred countrywide and were featured in the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) report.
“Once you are dealing with a country with a population of 750,000 and you have a voting list of 161,000, that voting list is padded and that padding is the cause of the irregularities that we have discovered. That is persons who are dead, migrated and persons who are not qualified to vote.”
With this in mind, the President stressed that it is unacceptable for the CEO to present a report which doesn’t take into consideration the fact that these irregularities did occur and has affected the validity of the votes.
Going forward, he said there needs to be a revised system and a new list come the next elections in five years.
President Granger also addressed the misinformation about Guyana’s elections being bandied about. He explained that many people are overlooking the fact that Guyana is a republic and it has a different constitution and electoral system to what prevails in other Caribbean countries.
He made it clear that he has great respect for his Caribbean colleagues and sees them as concerned rather than interfering.
Pointing out that while the recount process is taking longer than expected, it is a legitimate procedure.
“There is a logic, the recount has to look at One; the possibility of the contamination of the vote because of anomalies and irregularities. The second stage the CEO is required to produce a report and in fact, that report has been produced. We have already moved to the Chairman who will then make a declaration based on the report submitted by the CEO…It is a logical process, not an unlawful nor disorderly process and that’s where we are.”
The Opposition PPP has taken the issue of the validity of the votes to the Caribbean Court of Justice after it was dissatisfied with the ruling by Guyana’s Court of Appeal. Arguments on that matter are scheduled to be heard on July 1.
President Granger said that he is confident that nothing has happened to remove the process from the authority of the Election Commission which under the constitution of Guyana is the only agency which could conduct elections.
He added, “The courts have been respected, the constitution is intact and I have no doubt that in a very short time, I hope by this weekend that we can announce to the Guyanese people that these elections have been brought to an end and a President will be declared.”