Despite one of its candidates securing an injunction blocking the Caribbean Community‘s (CARICOM) supervised recount, A Part for National Unity +Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) says it is in support of the national recount of the votes cast in the March 2 General and Regional elections.
Referring to the Candidate Ulita Grace Moore, an Encoder, of Better Hope, East Coast Demerara, the APNU+AFC coalition said, “A Guyanese citizen has taken issue with the CARICOM supervised recount of votes…and is mounting a challenge to it in the Supreme Court and in the interim has obtained an injunction to halt the recount.”
The coalition stated that the right of Moore to take this action cannot be denied and ought to be respected. Further to this, it stated that the case filed by her ought to be welcomed by all stakeholders as the Supreme Court will adjudicate on the legality of the process, which should be a concern for everyone involved.
It, however said it is unfortunate that the Chairman of CARICOM has ascribed ulterior motives to this development; this response from the Chairman could well call into question CARICOM’s status as a “honest broker” going forward in this process.
APNU+AFC coalition partner, the Justice for All Party (JFAP), has already made a call for the national recount. Through its leader and General Secretary C.N. Sharma, the party said, “We believe in the will of the people – irrespective of which party wins.”
JFAP added, “We believe that the recounting process should be permitted and ALL ballots should be immediately recounted in an expeditious and transparent manner. Any party that wins through a transparent process will have our support.”
The Working People Alliance (WPA), a second party in the APNU+AFC coalition, also joined calls for recount of the votes throughout the 10 electoral districts to be made as it is permitted under the Constitution.
“We reiterate our demand that following the examination of the ballot boxes which reveal the credibility of the elections, whichever party wins the most votes forms a government of national unity for an agreed period with a clear mandate to complete constitutional reform and ending the “winner-takes-all” governance system,” the WPA made clear.
Already, six political parties which contested the elections have made a joint call for the CARICOM-supervised recount of all the ballots.
They include the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), Change Guyana (CG), United Republican Party (URP), The New Movement (TNM), A New and United Guyana (ANUG)and The Citizenship Initiative (TCI).
The International community are also in favour of the national recount. They consist of CARICOM, European Union, Organization of American States, Commonwealth Secretariat and the Carter Centre.
Several reputable Guyanese have also weighed in on the issue. One of them, Sir Shridath Ramphal believes that the high level team from CARICOM can still supervise the recount. He pointed out that it was for the leaders to put Guyana first.
As is relates to the current post elections impasse, Sir Ramphal noted, “Guyana is being deprived of regional and international approval and the opportunity for global respect at a time when it matters most.”
