Swami Aksharananda has changed his view on the credibility of the election process and has urged Gecom to allow the counting the 22 ballot boxes requested by President Ramotar.

In a statement to Stabroek News he said the following:

“It is well known that I am one of those persons who urged all parties to unconditionally accept the final results declared by Gecom. When the preliminary votes were declared, I urged the PPP to concede the recently concluded 2015 elections.

“I even went so far to urge Gecom to declare the elections and make arrangements for Mr Granger to be sworn in as president. I did so under the assumption that the process was free and fair, and with a strong desire for us to move to the next stage toward reconciliation.

“However, credible information has been provided by the PPP that points not only to anomalies and human errors, but also to what now appears to be a systematic, pre-conceived plan to disenfranchise citizens of the most fundamental of all rights in a democracy and that is the right to cast a vote and have it counted in the way that was intended. We note that two other parties, the URP and the OVP have raised doubts on the credibility of the system.

“This now casts a shadow of doubt over the process, a doubt that needs to be expeditiously cleared, and this can be done by allowing the recounting of the ballots of the 22 boxes called into question by the PPP.

“The new government will need the support and goodwill of the entire population to move our country forward and should not want to begin its administration with nearly 50% of the electorate harbouring doubts over the electoral process, especially when these point to a premeditated plan of fraud.

“Let us remove these doubts once and for all. Gecom should therefore allow the ballots in the 22 boxes to be counted.”