… PNCR calls on CARICOM to distance itself from his comments
CARICOM will not stand idly by and watch the results of the recount be set aside. So the loser of the elections must take his “licks like a man”. This is according to Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and incoming CARICOM Chair, Ralph Gonsalves. After he made this and other comments on a radio show, NBC Radio – “Your Morning Cup” in his country, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition and its leading constituent, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) both responded in condemnation, calling his comments prejudicial. The PNCR, in particular said that unless current CARICOM Chair and Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, makes a statement, distancing the regional union from Gonsalves’ statement, it would be viewed as an attempt by CARICOM to scuttle the electoral process.
Incoming CARICOM Chair and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves
Following the final tabulation of votes of the National Recount on June 8, which placed the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the lead, there have been several outcries by the Coalition, insisting that the final recount was invalid and that it cannot be used to declare the winner. Due to this, the Coalition has also refused to sign the District Certificates, all except for Region One.
The Coalition has accumulated thousands of allegations of electoral fraud, levelled against the PPP/C. It has asserted that these allegations point to an undermining of the electoral process, and a non-credible election. However, the Coalition’s claims have largely been unsubstantiated, and many were proven to be false.
Gonsalves, mentioned that he is a friend of the President, David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and that he, in his honest opinion, thinks that the recount process was carried out effectively and should definitely be used to declare the long anticipated winner.
But the Coalition says that many of the ballot boxes are tainted by irregularities, mainly in strongholds of the PPP/C. It argues
Gonsalves at the Ministry of the Presidency, in March alongside current CARICOM Chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley [left] and outgoing Guyana Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo (CARICOM)
that when those boxes are discarded, the remaining votes show it is the winner.
A CARICOM Ambassador, Noel Lynch, had told the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) that irregularities did not occur in the process by which the Guyanese electorate cast their votes, but in the count of votes.
Gonsalves further added that as the CARICOM observer mission is expected to deliver its report on the recount, that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) should declare a winner in accordance with its results.
The three-person Scrutineering Team consists of Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Cynthia Barrow-Giles; Commissioner on Antigua and Barbuda’s Electoral Commission, John Jarvis; and Supervisor of the Electoral Commission of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Gonsalves was also a part of the group of officials led by the CARICOM Chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mottley, who came to Guyana in March after the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, produced a declaration marred by a lack of transparency and protest.
Kaieteur News has proven, through verifiable reports, that Mingo rigged the tabulation to secure a fraudulent national victory for the Coalition.
CARICOM Leaders, including Gonsalves, and CARICOM Chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, in a March meeting with the Opposition (CARICOM)
The National Recount of votes has confirmed this, as the Coalition got 116,941 votes, below the Mingo-impacted figure of 136,057 votes in that District’s General Election. He also deflated the PPP/C’s General Election vote from 80,920 to 77,231.
In doing so, the Returning Officer, conjured 15,427 ghost voters.
Gonsalves in his statement declared that CARICOM will not “tolerate anybody stealing an election”, adding that anyone who sees it fit to challenge anything after the announcement is welcomed to do so in court. But for now, he referred to GECOM, “you have to declare the winner in accordance with the recount”.
The PPP/C and A New and United Guyana (ANUG) have said that it would be illegal for GECOM to investigate matters of fraud allegedly occurring on Election Day, as that would be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court.
The recount has shown that the Coalition lost the Election with a General Election total of 217,920 votes, behind the PPP/C’s total of 233,336 votes.
The St. Vincent PM urged all to come to terms with the outcome of the elections, stating “if you lose, take your licks like a man”.
The APNU+AFC coalition in a jab at the PM’s credibility, said that it is unfortunate that he, who is “embroiled” in an elections petition in his home country, is commenting on this matter.
The party called his remarks prejudicial to the integrity of the process and its eventual outcome, and called for CARICOM leaders to refrain from words and actions that might undermine the process’ legitimacy and credible conclusion.
Hours later, the PNCR – the leading faction of the Coalition – also put out a statement alleging prejudice, and called his comments “a direct interference into the affairs of a sovereign nation” and the work of GECOM.
The party said that his statements constitute an attack on the integrity of the CARICOM team, as it alleges that Gonsalves is making a direct appeal to influence the team in the preparation of its report on the recount process.
“The People’s National Congress Reform, therefore, calls on the sitting Chairman of CARICOM, the Right Honourable Mia Motley, to issue a clear statement distancing CARICOM from Prime Minister Gonzales’ statement lest it be interpreted as CARICOM’s intention to scuttle the entire process of arriving at a final credible process,” the party stated.
It added that it hopes “there is no irreparable damage to our relations with CARICOM consequently.”
Gonsalves is set to assume the Chairmanship of CARICOM on July 1.
