Georgetown: Notwithstanding a current injunction before Chief Justice Roxane George and a pending court ruling on Sunday, Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield has prepared his final report on the results of the March 2, 2020 elections and has called for a meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to approve it.
The CEO wrote the Chairman Justice (Rt’d), Claudette Singh and Commissioners, on Saturday night even though there is an injunction against the declaration of the results by the High Court; the Chief Justice will rule Sunday on the matter.
“These matters continue to engage the attention of the Chief Justice, Roxanne George, sitting in the High Court. We consider this invitation to meet as a flagrant attempt to breach the Order of Court aforesaid and a naked attempt by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to suborn us to breach an Order of Court and exposing us to liability for contempt of Court,” GECOM Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Robeson Benn and Bibi Shadick declared in a statement.
Below is a statement from the three commissioners of the PPP:
On Thursday, 5th March, 2020, we were individually served with copies of an Order of Court by Marshalls of the Supreme Court of Judicature.
The Order of Court was issued in the matter of REEAZ HOLLADAR v. RETURNING OFFICER, CLAIRMONT MINGO; CHIEF ELECTIONS OFFICER, KEITH LOWENFIELD & THE GUYANA ELECTIONS COMMISSION. The said Order read as follows:
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT an Injunction be and is hereby granted restraining the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, Election District Number Four, in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and/or the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), jointly and severally, either by themselves, their servants and/or their agents, and/or by each of them, from in any manner whatsoever, declaring the votes recorded for each List of Candidates, for the said district before first complying with, or ensuring the compliance of the process set out in Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03., Laws of Guyana;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT a Mandatory Injunction be and is hereby granted compelling the Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, Election District Number Four, in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and/or the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), jointly and severally, either by themselves, their servants and/or their agents, and/or by each of them to comply with the letter and spirit of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03., Laws of Guyana, forthwith and then to declare the votes recorded for List of Candidates for the said district in accordance with Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03., Laws of Guyana.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT an Injunction be and is hereby granted restraining the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), either by itself, its servants and/or agents, and each and every one of them, from in any manner whatsoever, declaring the total number of valid votes of electors for each List of Candidates recorded in the Guyana National and Regional Elections 2020, until and unless the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, Election District Number Four, in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and/or the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield complies with and ensures the compliance of the process set out by the provision, letter and spirit of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03., Laws of Guyana.
In our presence and at the same time, the said Order was also served on all members of the Commission. We are also aware that several attempts were made to effect service on the Chairman of Guyana Elections Commission, the Chief Elections Officer and the Returning Officer. In any event, an appearance was entered in the Court proceedings on behalf of the Chief Elections Officer and the Returning Officer.
On the evening of Saturday, 7th March, 2020, we received an e-mail from Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, which was addressed to the Chairman and copied to all Commissioners of GECOM, as follows:
Dear Madam Chair,
I have received declarations from Returning Officers for General and Regional Elections 2020 from Districts 1 – 10.
In accordance with Cap 1: 03 Section 99, I have prepared the final report for submission to the Commission.
In this regard, a request is made for a meeting of the Commission at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely
Keith Lowenfield
Chief Election Officer
Guyana Elections Commission
These matters continue to engage the attention of the Chief Justice, Roxanne George, sitting in the High Court.
We consider this invitation to meet as a flagrant attempt to breach the Order of Court aforesaid and a naked attempt by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to suborn us to breach an Order of Court and exposing us to liability for contempt of Court.
As holders of a constitutional offices, we are at all times obligated to obey the Constitution and other laws of Guyana and we consider this invitation to meet as not only a violation of our duty to uphold the Constitution but also an invitation to subvert the course of justice.
We wish to reiterate that our unconditional position is that Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 of the Laws of Guyana was not complied with by the Returning Officer and therefore the purported declaration of the votes recorded for each list of candidates is invalid, null, void and of no effect.
For the foregoing reasons, we will not respond to any such or further invitations from the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield or Chairman of Guyana Elections Commission, Justice Claudette Singh, while the Court proceedings are still extant.
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