Coalition’s election petition not completed – lawyer
L-R: Joseph Harmon, David Granger, and Khemraj Ramjattan
The APNU/AFC Coalition has still not completed its election petition, according to one of their lawyers, Roysdale Forde.
Former President David Granger, who is also leader of the APNU-faction of the coalition, had announced last week that the petition was likely to be completed by this weekend and filed on Monday.
However, when contacted byINews, Forde said the document remains incomplete and he could not say when it is likely to be finalised.
Roysdale Forde
Guyana’s laws dictate that an election petition must be filed in the High Court within 28 days after the results of the elections were declared.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) declared the winner of the March 2 elections on August 2.
Granger had previously expressed hope that the petition, when filed, will be dealt with swiftly by the court.
The APNU/AFC is maintaining that there were irregularities in the March 2 elections.
A National Recount, which was agreed to by Granger and the then Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, showed that the PPP/C secured 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.
The results were certified by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and other international and local observers as well as all other parties that contested the election.
In fact, the recount was mandated following the discovery of major irregularities and attempts to alter the results of the election by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
Though every other stakeholder denounced those attempts, Granger’s APNU/AFC Coalition was prepared to accept the fraudulent figures and had not raised any concerns about those irregularities.
