@Dave..Sanction is an option, but with sugar factories closed and high unemployment, who will suffer the most and for how long, before they break.

Read The Flour Convoy by Chetram Singh.  

CARICOM team leaving as court order blocks recount

This story is developing and will be updated.

The CARICOM high-level team that was due to oversee a recount of votes cast at the March 2 elections has decided to call it quits and will today depart Guyana as a court order today blocked the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from proceeding although both President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo agreed to the process, sources this afternoon confirmed.

High Court judge Justice Franklyn Holder today granted interim injunctions based on an application by Ulita Moore that effectively prevents GECOM from permitting a recount based on the agreement between Granger and Jagdeo, until an application for judicial review is determined.

Moore is a regional candidate for the incumbent APNU+AFC. She is being represented by attorneys Mayo Robertson and Roger Yearwood.

The recount of all ballots cast during the polls was expected to begin yesterday under the supervision of the High Level team–comprising  Angela Taylor, Chief Electoral Officer, Barbados; Anthony Boatswain, former Finance Minister, Grenada; Francine Baron, Chair of the Team and former Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Dominica; Fern Nacis-Scope, Chief Elections Officer, Trinidad and Tobago; Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer, Department of Government, UWI–from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), but the process has been stalled over questions surrounding the legality of the process.

GECOM earlier today said it was examining the legal ramifications of the agreement between Granger and Jagdeo in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana. “While the Commission has considered the proposal and has implemented systems for the operationalization of the exercise; as a safeguard mechanism, it is necessary for all the legal issues to be properly addressed including the gazetting of the process as requested by the high level Caricom delegation. Once finalized, the counting would commence immediately.

“The outcome of the Commission’s decision in this regard would be communicated and adequate notice on the start time for the exercise would be provided”, GECOM said in a statement this afternoon.

Based on Moore’s application, the judge today granted an interim injunction restraining GECOM from setting aside or varying the Declarations of the Returning Officers for the 10 electoral districts or replacing the declarations until a hearing and determination of the judicial review application.

An interim injunction was also granted restraining the Chief Election Officer from submitting any report of the total votes cast for each candidates list except for those counted and furnished by the Returning Officers under Sectio n 84(1) of the Representation of the People Act.

The judge also granted interim injunctions specifically restraining GECOM, the Chairperson and the Chief Election Officer from permitting any persons to count or recount ballots based on the agreement between Granger and Jagdeo or GECOM and CARICOM until the hearing and determination of the judicial review application.

The recount had been agreed to by Granger and Jagdeo in wake of the controversy over the process used by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to declare results for Region Four, which has prompted allegations of electoral fraud. The results would give the incumbent APNU+AFC a victory at the polls and a one-seat parliamentary majority should they stand. A court last week invalidated Mingo’s initial purported declaration after finding it to be unlawful.

The Independent High-Level Mission (from left): Angela Taylor, Chief Electoral Officer, Barbados;  Anthony Boatswain, former Finance Minister, Grenada;  Francine Baron, Chair of the Team and former Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Dominica;  Fern Nacis-Scope, Chief Elections Officer, Trinidad and Tobago; Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer, Department of Government, UWI. (CARICOM photo)

An Act to make provision for the election of members of the National Assembly under a system of Proportional Representation and for purposes connected therewith.

(25TH, SEPTEMBER, 1964)

Guyana:Electoral Law

Source -- http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Ele...Guyana/guyrep01.html

Section 84

84.

  1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the votes cast at the polling places in each district shall be counted by the returning officer of that district in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

  2. If the Chief Election Officer is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient in the interests of the carrying out of the provisions of this Part with due despatch or security he may, by notice published in the Gazette, direct that for the purposes of the counting of the votes the returning officers of districts specified in the notice shall count the votes for their respective districts at a place appointed by the said notice and this Act shall have effect accordingly.

  3. Where the Chief Election Officer has given a direction pursuant to subsection (29)

   a. he may designate one of the returning officers of the districts specified in the notice to exercise general direction and supervision over the counting of votes at the place so appointed;

   b. references in this Part to election officers, duly appointed candidates and counting agents shall have effect as if they included references to such persons appointed in respect of any of the districts in respect of which the direction applies.

US Secretary of State warns of serious consequences for electoral fraudsters here

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo today warned that there will be serious consequences for persons here engaged in electoral fraud and seeking to establish an illegitimate government. It was the sternest warning yet from a high ranking member of the Trump administration.

Speaking at the State Department today, Pompeo said:

“The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana ….we join the OAS Commonwealth, EU, CARICOM and other democratic partners who are calling for an accurate count. We commend CARICOM’s role in seeking a swift democratic resolution and it is important to note that the individuals  who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate governments/regimes will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States”.

The US and other western countries have kept up pressure on the government here over signs that there might be attempts to swear in incumbent David Granger on rigged results for Region Four.

 Mike Pompeo

@Tola with sugar factories closed and high unemployment, who will suffer the most and for how long, before they break.

They are already suffering. They are already broken. It's better that you fight and die than being bullied and die. WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO LOSE?

Peoples Progressive Party/Civic

PRESS STATEMENT

Guyanese, as well as the regional and international community, continue to witness the undermining of the process to finalize the results of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections, to allow for a declaration and swearing-in of Guyana’s new president – in a transparent and lawful manner.

The People’s Progressive Party notes that the past two weeks have exposed the complicity of some staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and certain high-ranking members of the APNU+AFC Coalition to: perpetrate electoral fraud on the Guyanese people; undermine our democracy; and expose Guyana to isolation in the free world.
Within a matter of days, we have had two fraudulent declarations of election results in Region 4 by a compromised Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, maneuvers that undercut transparency and credibility in the electoral process and, today, efforts to frustrate and undermine an agreement for a CARICOM-supervised recount of votes from the 2020 Elections.

The filing of an injunction today (March 17, 2020) to block the agreed recount exposes the duplicity of President David Granger, those around him and those within the APNU+AFC Coalition. It was Mr. Granger who called the CARICOM Chair, Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, to say he did not want to be sworn in on the basis of disputed election results and requested a high-level CARICOM team to supervise a recount of the ballots. The PPP, although skeptical of his intentions, agreed to this, as a political solution to move our country forward and avoid negative consequences for our nation. In addition to the delay in signing the aide-memoire, there have been consistent efforts by Granger’s agents to undermine the CARICOM agreement, which he himself requested. The latest episode in this saga is having Ulita Moore, who was an APNU+AFC Coalition candidate, file an injunction to stop the recount.

The global community has seen the true nature of Mr. Granger and his cabal. This is now revealed, first-hand, to the leaders of CARICOM. They, too, will not be able to recognize his illegal and illegitimate regime should he move forward to be sworn in based on fraudulent results.

Further, the moves by the APNU+AFC Coalition to mobilize protesters across the country, with calls for Granger to be sworn in as president, shows the extent to which this rigging cabal would go to destroy our democracy.

The truth of the results of the 2020 General and Regional Election results is in the ballot boxes. This is why the recount, specifically the recount of votes in Region 4, is being resisted.
The numbers are clear. In addition to accepted declarations from nine regions, the Party made public all of its Statements of Polls (SOPs) for Region 4. A statement from the Organization of American States (OAS) electoral observer mission said: “The Mission has noted that images of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic, on its website…(they) produce a result that is vastly different from that being declared by the Returning Officer and would have a decisive effect on the outcome of the national election. To date, neither the Chief Elections Officer nor APNU has challenged the authenticity of the Statements of Poll published by the PPP/Civic by producing the copies in their possession.” The PPP has also published, online, the Tally Sheets, signed by Presiding Officers across Region 4, to support its GECOM-issued Statements of Poll. Again, there has been no challenge to these documents.

The PPP wishes to underscore that APNU+AFC and its tiny cabal are alone in their misguided, foolhardy and regressive undertaking.

The Party will continue to fight for our democracy. The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is not alone in this fight. The international community, civil society and dozens of local groups and most of the smaller political parties, as well as the majority of Guyanese, are with us in this fight.
As recent as this morning, the United States of America’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in comments about Guyana, during a news conference, said: “The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana; the election took place on March 2. We join the OAS, Commonwealth, the EU, CARICOM and other democratic partners in calling for an accurate count. We commend CARICOM’s role in seeking a swift democratic resolution. It is important to note that the individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and to form illegitimate governments, regimes, will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States.”

Should there be a swearing-in on the basis of fraudulent election results, the People’s Progressive Party will treat Mr. Granger’s regime as illegal and illegitimate and will pursue the consequences addressed by Secretary Pompeo to the end, as well as sanctions for the members of the APNU+AFC Coalition, their families, their cronies, and their collaborators.
We urge all Guyanese, particularly supporters of the PPP, to remain vigilant and calm; do not be provoked and ensure that no action is taken in contradiction with the laws of Guyana; stay home and await further guidance from the Party.
There will be a time for a visible expression of disgust with and rejection of the APNU+AFC Coalition’s hijacking of our democracy.

People’s Progressive Party

March 17, 2020

***THE DREAMS LOST, ARE THE ONES WE DONT FIGHT FOR*** 

@Skelly...Don't you think I know, we live among them.  

There are many forms and levels of sanctions targeting the specific individuals involved in the fraud. This has minimal impact on the average person.  And for those who hope to make a killing on Exxon contracts, watch them get black listed and Exxon is precluded from dealing with them.

LMAO @ Pompeo stuttering away about sanctions. And he specifically referenced individual sanctions against persons, and not necessarily the country.

Let's see how far this goes. Exxon isn't going to stop drilling because of Pompeo. LOL. 

Oil will truly be the curse of Guyana. 

APNU and GECOM are the curses on Guyana

I have never met anyone who is so ashamed of their ‘victory’ as the APNU/AFC.

I understand that this Judge Franklyn Holder is in the Commercial Court and not in the Civil or Criminal Court. 

It doesn’t matter which court he belongs to he is wrong in granting this stay. Perhaps he will correct himself on Friday.

Who cares in what court Justice Holder sits?  He obviously had the authority to issue the injunction.  You remember how Nandlall found Navindra Singh to grant him the first injunction? If you are suggesting judge shopping then "do fo do nah obeah".

The day's drama.

A Candidate for the APNU AFC filed the injunction to bar the recount.
The judge is the father of another APNU AFC who is in Harmon's back pocket.
The Lawyer who is listed as filing the petition claimed that it wasn't him.
Yet David Granger and his gang claims that it hands are clean as a whistle.

Good Evening Friends

Dear #Citizens

Family Affair

It does not matter.  In the end, Region 4 must be verified by the standards of others before the results are declared and any legitimate president sworn in.  All these legal wrangling does not change that fact!

DAG is a two headed dawg!

Granger is a hypocrite.  APNU fears counting the votes of region 4.  They know that the PPP won the elections and they don't want to face the truth a count would reveal.  Caricom has failed in its effort to count the ballots.

Are there still fools out there who believe anything that Granger says?

@Django Go back and read the transparent standards of verification.  If you cannot figure, I cannot help you.  Go back and ask your Standard 1 teacher!

Django the same system used in 9 regions of tabulation was used up to when the RO say he sick. The counting stop. and a spreedsheet was then introduced by someone else, which brought disagreement from the contesting parties except APNU. 

The RO returns from the Hospital, just in time when VOLVA and her holligans walk in  and he declared the results without the process completed.

There are dozens of video to prove this... and I uploaded most of them. You cannot hide from the facts. The world saw it .... 

The videos are here in the archives. 

The OAS says, PPP uploaded their SOPs and APNU never did and they have the duplicate... them people asked why didn't APNU as of today challenge PPP on there SOPs.   

Ayo tek it from hay...

@Dave ,

there are more than your side of the tale. Your last paragraph don't mean anything.

You are being as stupid as 33 is not the majority of 65.  Why waste time with people playing the fool!

@Django .. I have no time gotay daal with you hay, but answer this question.

Why is APNU afraid of a recount?   and don't bring ram goat story hay about court action today.... the delay has been going on for days now, and I show the relationship with the commercial court judge and APNU who does not have jurisdiction in these matters.  

Django just being the usual circus clown!

@Baseman ,

Typical idiotic rebuttals , seeing on social media ,when ever tough questions are asked.

@Former Member, absolutely.  Django is taking the typical PNC approach.  Run everyone in circles until they're too tired to bother.  But the facts remain!

At least Caricom see the PNC for what they are, bunch of cheats, frauds and crooks!

@Django, look in the mirror, the idiot staring right back at you! 

Don't know what the hell you referring to. Unlike you, I don't have all day and all night to spend on social media.  You are a bloody fool to take that as your lead!  Many of your friends never even respond!  When the dialogue is circular, why bother!

@Django, they are afraid.  They shitting their pants!  Was the CJ ruling outside the "confines of the law"!  What a political con you are!

The SOPs are to be tabulated within the confines of the LAW