Harmon says “Operation Eagle Eye” on base

—to scrutinise recount process

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, May 9, 2020

Chief Executive Officer of the National Coronavirus Disease 2019 Task Force, Joseph Harmon today said counting agents of the APNU+AFC coalition are using their extensive training to closely scrutinise the ongoing national recount of the March 2, General and Regional Elections.

He said “Operation Eagle Eye” will bring to the fore discrepancies that might have been missed or overlooked during the closing count of polls on March 2.

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Chief Executive Officer of the National Coronavirus Disease 2019 Task Force, Joseph Harmon

“We have given a name to our operation here, operation eagle eye. All of our agents here have gone through an extensive period of training, so they know what to look for. So it is that eagle eye they are bringing to this process,” he told journalists earlier today.

He continued, “We had polling agents across this country and you are likely to have persons who are not as efficient as they should be. This recount is taking place in one location so they can lookout. Some things might have slipped through on March 2, but we should be able to catch those things here.”

Harmon had cause to also denounce the position by the opposition calling for a mere numerical count of the ballots.

“Here you have the integrity of the process and the numbers that are actually processed. I see (them) saying that all we need to do is count the numbers. If it were so simple, we wouldn’t need an entire CARICOM observation team here to scrutinise all that is taking place.”

Harmon noted that some credibility issues have to be addressed and those issues cannot be addressed by a mere numerical calculation.

He said there are questions concerning persons who are dead and whose names surfaced during the elections, as well as persons who were not around on elections day, but “voted as well.”

Such discrepancies Harmon said are not a true reflection of the will of the Guyanese people and remain the ultimate questions that have to be answered.

“What has happened to the will of the Guyanese people and this is why we have laid great store in the recount itself and have gone to great lengths to ensure that everything that needs to be done to ensure this process is completed, is done.”

He said complaints of the process “taking too long,” have to be looked at closely, and posited that “when you are hurry you tend to overlook things and this is what is happening here.”

Meanwhile, Harmon said the coalition has raised some issues with the elections commission and is awaiting a response. The commission has been sought out for an urgent meeting with the coalition to discuss some matters that came up today.

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