Court of Appeal accepts jurisdiction in challenge to elections declaration
The Court of Appeal by a 2-1 majority (Dawn Gregory and Brassington Reynolds) this afternoon has ruled that it has limited jurisdiction in the matter of Eslyn David v GECOM et al but has determined that “more votes cast” means “more valid votes cast” in keeping with the Recount Order.
All the other orders requested by Ms. David were refused.Attorney Kashir Khan’s, who is representing The Citizen Initiative (TCI), application for a three-day stay of the orders was granted by the Court.
The issue of jurisdiction had been a key challenge by the Opposition- People’s Progressive Party, which is ahead on the votes marred by irregularities.
The state-owned Guyana Chronicle reported last week that the constitutional case was brought by Eslyn David – a private citizen – against the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield; the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh; GECOM and the Attorney General, Basil Williams over a decision of the Elections Commission to include ‘tainted’ votes in an Elections Report to be submitted by the CEO, upon which the declaration of the results would be made.
According to the Guyana Chronicle in the case, which was brought by way of a Notice of Motion, David – a North Sophia resident – is seeking a declaration from the Appellate Court that the Elections Commission failed to determine the a final credible count and or the credibility of the result of the General and Regional Elections held last March, and as such, would have breached Order No. 60 and its addendum. On the basis that the Order was not complied with, David is also seeking an order restraining the Chief Elections Officer from submitting to the Elections Commission, an Elections Report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 containing votes which are not valid and credible.
“An order restraining the Chief Elections Officer from complying with the direction of the Chairman of the Guyana Election Commission as set out in a letter dated 16th day of June, 2020, to submit an Elections Report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act without the Guyana Elections Commission determining the final credible count and or the credibility of the result of the General and Regional Elections held on the 2nd day of March, 2020, as required by the Order No. 60 of 2020 and the amended Order of the 29th day of March, 2020,” another section of the application read, the Guyana Chronicle reported.
The newspaper said too that David also wants an Order that restricts Lowenfield from submitting an Elections Report to the Elections Commission under Article 177 (2) of the Constitution containing votes which are not credible. While the CEO, in his June 13th Report on the National Recount, had indicated that the Elections were not credible due to 4,864 cases of voter impersonation and more than 2,000 anomalies, the Chair of GECOM, on Tuesday (June 16), asserted that the Commission does not have the powers of a Court of Law to examine and re-examine witnesses or to procure official documents to determine the truth of the allegations contained therein. Only the High Court, she said, could determine the validity of an election under Article 163 (1) (b) of the Constitution. She therefore instructed the CEO to prepare and submit an Elections Report pursuant to Article 177 (2) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. The court will deliver its judgement at 13:30hrs.
