GECOM Chair declines to challenge Court of Appeal ruling

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Justice Claudette Singh has declined to make any submissions in the appeal against an Appeal Court ruling that ordered that only valid votes should be used to determine the winner of the March 2, 2020 elections.

Counsel for Justice Singh, Kim Kyte-Thomas gave the court notice over the weekend. Village Voice understands that just like she did in previous cases in Guyana, Justice Singh said she will respect and abide by the Caribbean Court of Justice’s ruling in the matter. The regional is said to hear oral arguments in the case filed by the People’s Progressive Party. Lawyers for the coalition have argued that the CCJ has no jurisdiction to hear the case and that the Court of Appeal decision is final. Their arguments have been buttressed by leading constitutional lawyer in the Caribbean Dr Francis Alexis who was quoted in the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday as saying that the PPP/C case has no prospect of winning.

The lawyers have contended that Article 177 (4) of the Constitution of Guyana and the Caribbean Court of Justice Act have undeniably ousted the jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) from adjudicating on any decision made by the Court of Appeal under that article. As such, they have argued that the application by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision that the election of a President must be on the basis of valid votes, ought to be refused.