Georgetown: Campaign co-manager of the APNU+AFC Coalition Joseph Harmon who has embrace fraudulent elections results on Thursday said the government will continue to stand firm in the face of all attempts by forces to violate Guyana’s rule of law.
“We will not bend,” Harmon said during a press conference where he addressed the ongoing attempts to prevent David Granger from being declared the winner of the March 2 elections, despite the polls showing so.
Harmon’s pronouncement also comes on the heel of a statement from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announcing visa restrictions for persons he said are undermining democracy in Guyana.
But the Coalition’s leader said everyone is aware that there has been no declaration made by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Further, he noted that there has been no declaration in favour of the opposition PPP on which the Chairman can act.
“So, to require you to concede or to hand over or step down in the circumstances is an ultra-constitutional action they are requiring us to take. I do not believe that any government who swore to uphold the Constitution of this country can, in fact, take any measure that is in violation of that Constitution,” he told journalists.
Harmon said the PPP and the rest of Guyana are aware that the Coalition has the greater number of votes in the elections. However, “these elections seem no longer to be about the Guyanese people but about other interests,”. He reminded that the electoral process is still not complete and that calls to concede in the circumstance are premature.
Harmon said after three submissions by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) showing an APNU+AFC victory, the PPP continues to place obstacles in the way of the Chairman in declaring “David Granger as President.”
One such obstacle has now taken the issue before the High Court. The PPP has been insisting that the GECOM Chair makes a declaration based on the numbers emanating from a national vote recount, a process invalidated by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The Court on July 8 ruled that Order 60 or the National Recount Order used to facilitate the national recount was in tension with the Guyana Constitution and all other electoral laws. However, the PPP believes that the figures from that should be used.
Harmon said the insistence is a “coercive ploy and violation of constitution and law and to this, we will not bend.”
Meanwhile, addressing the statement by the US Secretary of State, Harmon said the timing seems aimed at exerting undue influence on the Judge who has to deal with the matter in the high court.
He said while Guyana remains an independent sovereign state that respects and cherishes the relations at the diplomatic levels with all states, “We stand firmly against any threat or action aimed at violating the trust which exists between our leadership and our people.”
He reminded that Guyana has always had excellent diplomatic relations with those countries. And while the current issue may just be a “blip” with those countries, ultimately the government’s priority and major interest are for the well being of the people of Guyana.
“Today we assure the people of Guyana that we will continue to stand firm. Our cause is just and we are confident in the victory of good over evil,” he proclaimed.
However, U.S Ambassador Sarah Ann-Lynch Thursday, speaking during a virtual press conference, said the sanctions were targeted at particular individuals.
Individuals whose visas have been revoked by the United States Government will be informed by the consular section of the U.S. Embassy, while those without a visa will find out when they apply and go in for an interview at the Embassy.
The visa sanctions were announced on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the United States and the international community grow impatient with key officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the Coalition APNU+AFC who are bent on using fraudulent votes to declare the results of an election and keep David Granger and his government in office.
She noted that there have been seven different elections report so far with two of them prepared with substantial alterations. She could only have been referring to the March 13 and July 11 reports of the Chief Elections Officer in which he used figures from District Four which were denounced by local and international observers as being fraudulent.
“The Guyanese people have exercised their civic right and they deserve to be heard. But due to continuing electoral improprieties, the people have not been heard after nineteen long weeks,” the Ambassador said in a statement.
It was on this basis that the visa sanctions were announced. It affects those responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana and may affect the immediate family members of those persons.
She said U.S. law prohibits the naming of the persons who have been affected.
The sanctions were announced under the U.S. government’s Immigration and Nationality Act on the grounds that the entry of the persons identified into the United States would have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Ambassador Lynch stated that over 130 countries are represented through various organisations such as the OAS, the Commonwealth and CARICOM, in the call for the elections results to be declared based on the recount.
She said the events after March 02 have shown that there are “forces” that have repeatedly refused to accept the will of the people at the ballot box.
“Guyana’s non-democratic trajectory is dangerous for its citizens and for the hemisphere as a whole,” she stated, adding that she hopes Guyana’s leaders understand what is at stake if Guyana continues along this path.
She again warned of serious consequences for breaching the democratic principles Guyana is associated with key organisations such as the OAS.
The U.S. Ambassador expressed confidence in the chair of GECOM, retired Justice Claudette Singh, saying she was shocked and appalled at the dangerous statements and the actions that have seen directed at Justice Singh.
“Chairwoman Singh is a person of the utmost integrity and a distinguished jurist who has given decades of her life in service to her country.
“I hope that all Guyanese will speak out on her behalf and allow her to continue her work and bring this electoral process to closure.”
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