‘Elections probe soon’  

…President Ali announces hails Western countries as guardians of Guyana’s democracy  

An inquiry into the 2020 General and Regional Election, which was marred by allegations of fraud and thousands of irregularities will be initiated shortly, President Irfaan Ali announced on Saturday, while expressing profound gratitude to the international community for being “guardians” of the country’s democracy.

In his inauguration as the 9th Executive President of Guyana at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday President Ali said Guyanese painfully experienced grave trauma and anguish over the last five months as a result of attempts to rig the elections held on March 2. “…A review of events – related to the electoral process over the last five months – will begin shortly in order to determine, forensically, exactly what transpired, and to hold accountable any person who sought to pervert and corrupt the system,” the President announced.

Initial declarations made by 10 Returning Officers in March showed a win for the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), however, following a 33-day National Recount, and a series of Court battle, the PPP/C was declared winner of the General and Regional Elections by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). It is alleged that the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo had inflated the number of votes cast in favour of APNU+AFC as the votes declared by him varied significantly from those recounted. That aside, the recount unearthed massive irregularities and well over 4,000 cases of voter impersonation. The Courts, however, have ruled that any challenge to the validity of the election results must come by way of an Elections Petition.

Ali on a mission

President Ali said he is on a mission to enhance parliamentary democracy, support an independent and efficient judiciary and to ensure that the rule of law and the constitutional rights of Guyanese are upheld. “More importantly, we will pursue the necessary reforms to make our democracy stronger and our electoral process more transparent,” he said.

He said the outcome of the Elections is as a result of the commitment shown by the international and regional communities to safeguard the country’s democracy at a time when it was threatened by those who wanted to thwart the will of the Guyanese people. “Thanks to the member states of CARICOM and the international community for keeping vigil with our nation over the last five months as we fought to hold high the flag of Guyana as a democratic state, deserving of high regard. Some of those who stayed alert with us, through those dark days are with us as a new dawn dispels the darkness of despair and shines a light of unbounded expectation on us today. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the resident diplomatic corps from the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union and the United States who so fearlessly defended our people’s political rights,” the President said as he expressed his gratitude.

Mention was also made of the Organization of American States, the Carter Center and the Commonwealth Group of Nations. “They were epitomized by one man who put our country before he put himself in his determination that democracy should not die in Guyana, nor should our people be deprived of their political rights.   That man was Owen Seymour Arthur – the Leader of the Commonwealth Elections Observer Mission and former Prime Minister of Barbados,” President Ali said.

He added: “But for his untimely – and profoundly tragic – death, Owen Arthur would have been with us today. He was a true friend of Guyana; a man committed to justice and the rights of the people.”

Arthur, a distinguished statesman, died last month after a brief illness, however, throughout the five-month electoral impasse, he had called for the results of the National Recount to be accepted by all political parties, in particular the APNU+AFC. While thanking the majority of the electorate for reposing confidence in him, the President offered his commitment to serve all of Guyana.