@Former Member.

Use this information as your Guide. After 1997, elections were next due in 2002. They were actually held in 2001, ie before due date.

http://www.ipsnews.net/2001/01...-void-3-years-later/

The PNC never held elections before the due date so 2001 must have been by the PPP.

POLITICS-GUYANA: General Elections Declared Null and Void 3 Years Later

By IPS CorrespondentsReprint |         |  Print | Send by email

Bert Wilkinson

GEORGETOWN, Jan 16, 2001 (IPS) - No one knows exactly what will happen now that a high court judge has nullified the 1997 general elections.

In a stunning landmark decision on Monday, Justice Claudette Singh said she had found that several key institutions in the country, most notably the 65-member parliament, had acted illegally in making the possession of a voter identification card a prerequisite for voting in the elections.

As a result, she ruled that the December 1997 general elections were conducted under rules that clearly contravened the Constitution.

In previous elections, the production of a national passport or the regular national identification card was enough to ensure that an eligible voter, whose name appeared on the official scroll, was allowed to vote. But last time around, thousands of persons were denied the right to vote simply because they did not have cards issued by the elections commission.

In all, the court found that about, 30,000 persons, just under one-tenth of the total eligible voters, were denied the chance to exercise their franchise.

The judge, therefore, ruled that the elections were null and void because the act that made identification cards the only voting prerequisite, had breached several statutes in the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.

The ruling appears to have plunged this already racially divided former British colony into further political and constitutional turmoil about two months before new elections set for Mar. 19.

Doodnauth Singh, the man who presided over the last elections as Chairman of the National Elections Commission called the decision “unprecedented”.

“This means that Parliament and the Cabinet have been constituted illegally,” he said.

“This is unprecedented in that I have never heard in the Commonwealth of a judge declaring an entire national election as null and void. Usually, they do so in a region or constituency, but not in a national election. This is unprecedented and has serious implications for the country,” said Singh, also a prominent lawyer who appeared in the case as respondent and advocate.

The petition was filed by several opposition parties in early 1998, weeks after the country was gripped by daily opposition-organized street demonstrations that necessitated the use of tear gas and pellet guns by police.

Worried that the riots and demonstrations could have spilled over into full-scale anarchy, Caribbean Community leaders forced the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the main opposition People’s National Congress (PNC) to sign an agreement bringing forward elections to this year instead of late 2002.

The ruling has also come at a bad time for the Bharrat Jagdeo administration. The PNC and some smaller opposition parties have been calling for an interim administration to run the country until elections in March.

The special accord had set Jan. 17, 2001 as the outer limit for elections, but the Elections Commission said it was unable to meet that deadline, and postponed the polls to Mar. 19 instead.

PNC Leader and former President Desmond Hoyte have complained that the additional two months in office will give the administration invaluable access to state resources to campaign against its political enemies.

He wants the country to be run by a caretaker administration, a suggestion dismissed as silly by legal pundits given the relatively short time span. Now that the court has voided the elections Hoyte is claiming victory and arguing that the ruling has vindicated his position that the country has been run by an illegal government.

“We are in a constitutional crisis,” said Hoyte.

In the second part of her ruling, Justice Singh said that there were dozens of very clear cases of fraud: switching around of numbers to favor one party over another, disappearances of ballot boxes, and other acts of collusion by officials, but these were not enough to overturn the elections.

Close to 300 witnesses gave evidence ranging from ordinary polling day clerks to the chief elections officer. Most corroborated opposition claims that some poll forms were forged and that false entries were made on commission computers that were producing election results.

The court is due to meet again on Tuesday when Justice Singh will detail its implications for the country. One key area of concern is that voters in the upcoming elections will have to again produce special identification cards in order to vote.

“But now that the judge has ruled, it means that Parliament would have to amend the act, but Parliament is illegal and so I am not sure how it is going to be done,” said Doodnauth Singh.

http://www.ipsnews.net/2001/01...-void-3-years-later/

Interesting, Gilbakka. This was Claudette Singh again. Thank you, kindly. 

A court can nullify an election but cannot declare the winner of one. Only GECOM can do that. If the election is deemed null and void new elections will have to be held.

But I don't think the PNC will file any petitions especially now that they have pay for all the frivolous ones they did recently.

I would be disappointed if they don't though.

Given how loyal she is, it must have taken a lot out of the Chairperson to disappoint the PNC this year but in the end she had to do the right thing.

@Former Member posted:

Given how loyal she is, it must have taken a lot out of the Chairperson to disappoint the PNC this year but in the end she had to do the right thing.

On the petition issue, I would really like to see how it plays out since APNU/AFC were relying heavily on the fraud and irregularities. I want to see the evidence they hope to present to the court. 

It will be a total embarrassment to the PNC should they file an election petition. So I doubt they will.

@kp posted:

It will be a total embarrassment to the PNC should they file an election petition. So I doubt they will.

Harmon's latest announcement about the new and younger candidates in APNU opposition, she sounds disappointed about the fraud and irregularities he claimed. To set the PPP clear from these alleged frauds, they should file an election petition and get it over with. 

Rochelle and Basil Jackass Wiliams should draft the AFC PNC petition. 

@Former Member posted:

Rochelle and Basil Jackass Wiliams should draft the AFC PNC petition. 

Here you going off again. APNU/AFC has intelligent people to file their election petition. Rest assure.

They fine tuning the petition which have to be filled within 28 days after elections declaration , also there will be pressure for  the petition to be heard in a year.

It will be interesting as the events unfold.

@Django posted:

They fine tuning the petition which have to be filled within 28 days after elections declaration , also there will be pressure for  the petition to be heard in a year.

It will be interesting as the events unfold.

Chota bhai, PPP/C filed a petition in the elections court in 2015. Five years running, no hearing under APNU+AFC. The only "pressure" PPP/C put on were a few well-attended peaceful picketing exercises near GECOM Kingston HQ. How can the same APNU+AFC want hearing within one year now that their feet in PPP/C 2015 petition shoes?

@Django posted:

They fine tuning the petition which have to be filled within 28 days after elections declaration , also there will be pressure for  the petition to be heard in a year.

It will be interesting as the events unfold.

They can fine tune and fat fowl, I predict this will fail.  They are doing this to pacify their supporters. They have nothing of substance.

@Former Member posted:

Here you going off again. APNU/AFC has intelligent people to file their election petition. Rest assure.

Too bad they didn't utilize any of them the past 19 months.

@Former Member posted:

They can fine tune and fat fowl, I predict this will fail.  They are doing this to pacify their supporters. They have nothing of substance.

Please don't discourage me. I am eagerly awaiting the petition. It would be quite a sight watching all those dead people being marched into court.

There isn't going to be a petition because the PNC doesn't have proof of any rigging by the PPP.  The PNC had the seat of Government and lost it. In any third world country that is the norm.  When you lost you yelled rig.

If there is a petition, it would be a wasting of the court's time.  The PNC still has to pay for the time they wasted in all their petitions.

@Former Member posted:

Chota bhai, PPP/C filed a petition in the elections court in 2015. Five years running, no hearing under APNU+AFC. The only "pressure" PPP/C put on were a few well-attended peaceful picketing exercises near GECOM Kingston HQ. How can the same APNU+AFC want hearing within one year now that their feet in PPP/C 2015 petition shoes?

Looks like the last sentence in my post was thrown out.

@Former Member posted:

A court can nullify an election but cannot declare the winner of one. Only GECOM can do that. If the election is deemed null and void new elections will have to be held.

But I don't think the PNC will file any petitions especially now that they have pay for all the frivolous ones they did recently.

I would be disappointed if they don't though.

The elections have already been deemed Free and fair.  What is needed is a replacement of Burnham's constitution with Jagdeo's Constitution.

I would prefer the first past the post system again. But anyhow, you can always have fake hopes that will never happen.

I prefer equal representation for everyone so a Republican style government would probably be best 

Just get on with it and file the petition and then demand an urgent hearing like those granted recently to the PPP.  If not forthcoming simply bring the people out to protest .   The very international community that was so vociferous on the recount etc. will have to support an early hearing of the petition.  

Ramjattan said they will release their SOP's but why they didn't do it earlier if they feel they won the election? 

Because of Mingo and Lowenfield’s blatant attempt to rig the elections the SOPs have been overtaken by the SORs. SOPs for the 2020 elections mean nothing anymore. Plus the compilation of the SORs are more reliable given the extent to which they were evaluated.

@Django posted:

They fine tuning the petition which have to be filled within 28 days after elections declaration , also there will be pressure for  the petition to be heard in a year.

It will be interesting as the events unfold.

@Former Member posted:

Chota bhai, PPP/C filed a petition in the elections court in 2015. Five years running, no hearing under APNU+AFC.

The only "pressure" PPP/C put on were a few well-attended peaceful picketing exercises near GECOM Kingston HQ.

How can the same APNU+AFC want hearing within one year now that their feet in PPP/C 2015 petition shoes?

Indeed for stated petition issue in 2015.

However, each group as the opportunity to file an election petition.

We will see how relevant issues develop.

@Former Member posted:

Ramjattan said they will release their SOP's but why they didn't do it earlier if they feel they won the election? 

It won't be about SOPs.  It will be about impersonation, missing documents etc.  

@Totaram posted:

It won't be about SOPs.  It will be about impersonation, missing documents etc.  

They have a right to present anything they have as evidence. I believe in our court system for all sides. 

It will be interesting to see if the PNC hop skip the High Court and go straight to the COA since they feel they can guarantee two out of the three favorable rulings.

@Former Member posted:

It will be interesting to see if the PNC hop skip the High Court and go straight to the COA since they feel they can guarantee two out of the three favorable rulings.

Come on you should know better.  Isn't it the High Court that has jurisdiction for election petitions?

@Totaram posted:

Come on you should know better.  Isn't it the High Court that has jurisdiction for election petitions?

Of course. But you have to factor in the PNC who hop skipped the High Court and went straight to the COA in the David's case completely ignoring that it is the High Court and not the COA that has jurisdiction over elections petition. They felt they couldn't coerce the CJ to do them favors as they could with the COA judges.