Gov’t to write DPP for update on 2020 elections cases

– ‘We are still committed to preserving, protecting democracy’ – AG

The government will be writing to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack to request an update on the cases it filed against several persons that were allegedly involved in the 2020 elections fiasco.

This was disclosed by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, who noted that the public has a right to know about these matters of law.

He recalled that today marks three years since Guyanese lined up to cast their votes at the 2020 general and regional elections, unaware of the catastrophic and chaotic saga that would ensue.

What followed was an approximately five-month delay in the announcement of the results, during which time attempts were made to rig the elections in favour of the then A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance for Change (APNU\AFC) government.

Reflecting on the suffering endured by Guyanese during this period, the attorney general reaffirmed that this PPP/C Government will continue to defend, preserve and protect democracy in Guyana.

Speaking during Tuesday’s edition of ‘Issues in the News’, the AG acknowledged the foreign observers, governments, and organisations across the globe that provided support to Guyana during that period of turmoil, highlighting the disastrous potential fallout had the situation escalated further.

“It’s horrendous to think of what would have happened in Guyana if those miscreants were allowed to pursue and execute their plans and their agendas. We would have been a pariah state. We would have been blacklisted internationally. CARICOM would have expelled us, and Commonwealth may have done the same thing,” he said.

He added that reflecting on the 2020 elections debacle is important to prevent a repeat of such an occurrence.

“Let us not only celebrate elections and the elections victory, and let us reflect on the seriousness of what transpired there, and the likelihood of a recurrence, and pledge that we will work fervently to ensure that that does not recur in our country,” the attorney general charged. 

Following the 2020 elections debacle, some 32 cases of electoral fraud were filed in the Magistrate’s Court against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Mr. Keith Lowenfield, Region Four Returning Officer, Mr. Clairmont Mingo, and others.

Meanwhile, AG Nandlall highlighted that as the Local Government Elections (LGE) draw near, Guyanese must exercise caution and remain vigilant for any indication of a repeat of the 2020 elections fiasco.

“We must not forget the lessons that were learnt from those elections. We must not forget the struggles that were associated with ensuring that the votes cast at those elections were actually counted. We must not forget those who put our democracy on trial and those who attempted, in the most flagrant way, to steal those elections, and to prevent the true and real results from being declared.

“You have a government that is working every day to ensure a better tomorrow for every single Guyanese. I want you to be assured that your government is very much alive to those realities that we experienced, and we will work to ensure that the democratic credentials of this country are maintained and that we continue to work to deliver a better tomorrow,” he said.