Caricom will not tolerate anybody stealing an election – incoming Chairman
…says will not stand idly by to watch recount results set aside
…as APNU/AFC now claims over 237,000 votes tainted
Incoming Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves is adamant the 20-member bloc of nations, “will not stand by idly and watch the recount (of ballots cast in the March 2 Guyana General and Regional Elections) which is properly done, for the results to be set aside”.
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Dr Gonsalves was at the time speaking on a radio programme and was asked to weigh in on the electoral state of affairs in Guyana and was adamant, “St Vincent and the Grenadines stands firmly for democracy and respecting the will of the people so that will tell you where we are. I don’t have to say anything more. I am straight and plain.”
According to Dr Gonsalves, however, “Caricom is not going to tolerate anybody stealing any election”.
He went further to note that very many times, “a lot of Opposition parties when they lose, or anybody who loses, say so and so thief.”
The incoming Caricom Chairman observed, however, “…we get the reports, follow the laws and who wins, wins”.
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According to Dr Gonsalves, “when you take part in an election, there’s always a chance you may lose, and if you lose”, he quipped, “take your licks like a man”.
Reiterating that “I am satisfied that Caricom will not stand by idly and watch the recount, which is properly done, for the results to be set aside”, Prime Minister Gonsalves said “we expect the Caricom Observer Mission to deliver its report and we expect that what is the recount would be honoured”.
He said it was expected that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) “will honour that recount and declare the winner in accordance with this recount”.
He surmises that subsequently, “anybody who then wants to challenge anything after can go to court, but you have to declare the winner in accordance with the recount”.
Reaffirming his Caricom position, the St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister reminded that an election – “stripped of all the regulations here and there” – is essentially three separate though connected elements.
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