Attorney-at Law and PPP/C Candidate, Charles Ramson Jnr., moments ago, registered his disappointment with the fact that the government continues to deny granting approval to the Carter Centre to observe the recount of the votes cast in the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
During an interview on Kaieteur Radio, Ramson revealed that the government’s actions amount to a criminal offense. Expounding further, the lawyer said that the refusal of the APNU-AFC led government to allow the Carter Center to return is a breach of the very Order on which the recount is being conducted. The Order states, “ … the recount process shall be conducted in the presence of representatives of … and observed by International and Local Observers accredited by the Guyana Elections Commission …”. The Order goes on further to state that the “following persons are entitled to be present: representatives of political parties that contested the said elections, the CARICOM Scrutinising Team, International and Local Observers accredited by the Guyana Elections Commission, …”
Ramson said that an Order, just like a Regulation, Rule, By-Law etc., carries the same power of the law while noting that it falls into the category called “subsidiary legislation”. The PPP Candidate said too that the refusal by the APNU-AFC led caretaker government to allow the Carter Center to return to Guyana is not only the political weaponization of the COVID-19 pandemic but also a breach of their legal entitlement thereunder.
Ramson also pointed out that Section Six of the General Elections (Observers) Act CAP 1:10 makes it an offence for anyone to obstruct or interfere with an accredited observer in the performance of his functions or the exercise of his rights conferred thereunder.
Taking the foregoing into consideration, Ramson said that the refusal makes everyone wonder what is it that the “refusers” have up their sleeves and or what they could be trying to hide from the observers.
