A recent poll conducted by the Guyana, South America Facebook Page shows that 86 percent of Guyanese believe that the Caribbean Court of Justice will rule in favor of the PPP/C while 14% are of the delusion that it will rule in favor of the APNU/AFC or that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
The incumbent APNU/AFC government, the main opposition PPP/C and GECOM are presently embroiled in a court battle which has made its way all the way up to the Caribbean Court of Justice once again. This is not the first time this has happened. After the December 2018 no-confidence motion, the main opposition political party and the caretaker APNU/AFC government engaged in court battle after court battle where the APNU/AFC government was trying to prove that 33 is not the majority of a 65 seat parliament. The PPP/C had won the case after appealing to the CCJ.
Elections were finally called on March 2, 2020 and the process was deemed credible, fair and transparent up to the tabulation of Region 4 votes. On March 3rd, the Returning Officer of Region 4, Mr. Clairmont Mingo, fell sick on the job, was rushed to the hospital but returned later to make a declaration using unverified results. Protests erupted from citizens as well as local and international observers which plunged the country into a state of chaos and cost the life of at least one citizen.
No electoral process is worth the life of a citizen.
hon. mia mottley – barbados prime minister and former caricom chair.
After much contention, a recount was agreed upon which the David Granger Administration had said that they would accept as final. On that note, a CARICOM team, sponsored by the Canadian Government, was invited to scrutinize the recount, but the Carter Center was denied permission to return to observe the recount. An OAS and EU observer were also present during the recount which took well over one month.
CARICOM called for a declaration of the winner based on the recount results, however, it was met by objection from the APNU/AFC who then argued that the electoral process was fraudulent and flawed and they would accept either a win for APNU/AFC or new elections.
Around June 18th, a private citizen supportive of the APNU/AFC filed an injunction which was granted by the Appeals Court of Guyana to block a declaration of a winner based on the CARICOM certified recount results. The recount shows a PPP/C victory by over 15,000 votes. The Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, Mr. Keith Lowenfeild, subsequently subtracted over 115,000 votes from the recount results on the basis of “allegations” of fraud. He then presented a report showing an APNU/AFC victory by about 5000 votes.
The PPP/C immediately appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice which granted an injunction to block a declaration based on Mr. Lowenfield’s fabricated results. The matter was heard on the 1st of July, 2020 and the CCJ is expected to hand down a ruling today, 8th of July, 2020. The Caribbean Court of Justice has been adopted as Guyana’s final court.
Meanwhile, some APNU/AFC supporters, fearing that the CCJ will rule in favor of the PPP/C, are protesting that the CCJ cannot interfere in Guyana’s sovereignty. However, this protest comes at a time when Guyana is simultaneously embroiled in a court battle against Venezuela for the Essequibo at the International Court of Justice.
Certainly, Guyana cannot stave off Venezuela’s claim of the Essequibo by itself, so we find it ridiculous that APNU/AFC supporters are calling on Regional and International Courts to stay out of Guyana’s affairs at a time like this. Aside from being incapable of defending its territories, Guyana manufactures hardly anything and literally depends on the world for survival. In addition, more Guyanese reside abroad than in the country of Guyana.
