‘Granger will not concede’ …Harmon says CEO report show coalition won elections

Calls for His Excellency President David Granger to concede defeat at the March 2 polls will not be heeded, as he remains and will continue to be the President of Guyana.

APNU+AFC Coalition campaign manager Joseph Harmon Sunday morning said such propositions are “most ridiculous and nonsensical” and cannot be taken seriously. Harmon was speaking on Antigua and Barbuda’s 104.3 Nice FM, Lite 104.1 FM and 104.3 Power FM, providing an update on the current political state of affairs here.

While the Court of Appeal has already ordered the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to consider “more valid votes cast” to determine the credibility of the elections, and although the matter is now sub judice before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), there have been calls both locally and internationally for the president to concede to an election of fraudulent votes. “It comes from a narrative overtaken by time. Given the report submitted by the CEO to the commission showing that President Granger’s Coalition with the majority of the valid votes cast after the recount and still people are calling on him to concede. Concede to what, concede to who. What is he to concede to?” Harmon responded when asked about the calls.

Early last week, GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield presented his report to Commission Chair Justice (Ret’d), Claudette Singh, showing the APNU+AFC Coalition winning the March 2, 2020 elections with a total 171,825 valid votes. The report shows the PPP following with 166,343 votes, while the joined list of A New United Guyana, the Liberty and Justice Party and The New Movement together gained some 3, 348 valid votes.
“It appears to me and any right-thinking person, to be a most nonsensical proposition. Our people have been waiting for over 119 days for their president to be sworn in and it has taken a toll on their patience. When you add COVID-19 to this, one can understand the anxiety for the president to be sworn in,” he said.

According to Harmon, the Coalition government is still waiting to commence the promised “decade of development,” which will benefit all Guyanese despite political affiliation. “The expenditure to be made on health, education, public infrastructure, defence, agriculture, eco-tourism, housing, small and medium-size business among other things is all exciting prospect. So, for those persons calling for Mr. Granger to concede, that is not going to happen.” The Coalition campaign manager noted that the APNU+AFC has reached out to a number of Prime Ministers all across the Caribbean region. From the interactions, he said it is clear that those heads of government would prefer to see the situation dealt with by Guyanese as a sovereign state. “They say they would prefer not to make any comments and influence in any way a process that is distinctly Guyanese.”

“GECOM is the only entity responsible for elections. I will caution all persons who have been influenced to make prejudicial statements, refrain from doing so because our process is a constitutional one, a legal one.” Harmon asked Guyanese both home and abroad to be patient “keep your head up Guyanese; we have a few days to go. Wherever you are across the world, don’t stop the progress!” (DPI)