Coalition resolute in not conceding …Harmon says legal processes must be completed first

General Secretary of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Thursday praised the APNU+AFC government for the many ways it has contributed to restoring respectability and decency to the Guyanese nation.

He was at the speaking at a news conference to mark the Ninth Anniversary of the APNU Partnership. Built on a foundation of unity, Harmon reminded that the APNU party was birthed from a need to represent the people. “APNU believes in a community working together for a common cause. We are proud of our service to the nation in nine short years. APNU has broken down barriers of social prejudice; smashed the barriers of bigotry and broke through with new ideas and a new vision for Guyana’s future. APNU is the future,” Harmon said.

Formed on the 5 July, 2011, the APNU is a coalition made up of the Guyana Action Party (GAP), the Justice For All Party (JFAP), the National Front Alliance (NFA), the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).

The party was formed to contest the 2011 elections, and aimed to show that the true way of overcoming racial politics in Guyana was for parties of differing backgrounds to come together.

“It was clear then as it is now that the racial-based politics and policies of the past has no place in the future,” Harmon said in his remarks.
In 2015, the APNU went on to further the coalition by uniting with the Alliance For Change (AFC), under the Cummingsburg Accord agreement. The partnership saw the party going on to winning government in that year’s General and Regional elections.

“Over those five years we have restored hope to the people of Guyana. We successfully ended 23 years of ‘wreckage’ carried out by the PPP/C, who spent 23 years wrecking it,” Harmon said.
He relayed that integrity for Guyana has been restored on the international scene.

“We have gone from being viewed as a narcotic state to being removed from the anti-money laundering blacklist. We have aggressively tackled corruption. Over these five years no foreign government has had the need to accuse us of corruption or mismanagement in public office,” he said
He further pointed to the country’s maintenance of a Tier 1 ranking in the US State Department Trafficking in Persons rating, developments in education, public infrastructure, public security, public health, and social protection are some of the areas Harmon highlighted where much work was done by the APNU+AFC to restore the country.

“People are now proud to say “I am Guyanese”. We have brought back the dignity of human life and placed a strong premium on Guyanese life; extra-judicial killings are now a thing of the past. We have cleaned up the tattered legacy which Jagdeo and the PPP/C left us,” Harmon said
The APNU+AFC ascension to government was preceded by a 23 year government reign by the People’s Progressive Party Civic, for which 12 of those years the Presidency was held by Bharrat Jagdeo.

Harmon said, taking over from the PPPC was no easy task, and meant a lot of work needed to be done. However all of these developments are now under threat, even as the country awaits a final declaration from the results of the March 2 General and Regional elections.

“As we mark that milestone, dark forces are threatening to pull us apart. “These elections now seem to be no longer about the Guyanese people, but about other interests,” Harmon expressed.

An official elections declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently tied up in yet another court proceeding. Since the elections Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, has made three elections report submissions, however they have all been challenged.
Harmon said that the PPPC is “seeking to rely on a partial report of a fraudulent recount process to coerce the Chairman of GECOM to make a declaration in their favor”.

Relying on the most recent ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which was made on July 8, meant that votes tabulated during the National Recount cannot be used to declare the results of the General and Regional elections, since it created a new electoral regime and was not in keeping with the Constitution of Guyana.

Quoting the CCJ ruling Harmon said that the CCJ clarified that “Order No. 60 could either impact the interpretation of the Constitution or create a new election regime at variance with the plain words of the Constitution is constitutionally unacceptable.” The CCJ’s ruling has meant that the recount order created a new electoral regime and was not in keeping with the Constitution of Guyana.

APNU supports the Coalition clarity that our electoral process is still not complete and that calls to concede in the circumstance from whatever source it comes are prematurely a coercive ploy, a violation of our constitution and laws, and we will not bend. He also called on foreign powers to respect the country’s process. “APNU iterate that Guyana is an independent and sovereign state and respect and cherish our relations at a diplomatic level with all states. We stand firm against any threats or actions which are aimed at violating the trust which exist between our leadership and our people. We will, with patient restraint, await the lawful outcome of our electoral process.” he said.