Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield has been given up to 2pm tomorrow to submit his final report on the March General and Regional Elections. Should he fail, that responsibility will fall to the Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers. This was according to Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, moments ago at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Headquarters.
He said that this decision was taken by the GECOM Chair, Justice (Retired) Claudette Singh, when the Commission met today.
Opposition-nominated Commissioner, Sase Gunraj said that the CEO was reminded that his report must include the figures coming out of the National Recount.
Lowenfield would have submitted a previous report which does not reflect the recount data, despite being told explicitly to include that data.
But Lowenfield is of the opinion that the Recount Operationalisation Order (Order #60) is clashing with the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA), and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling on the interpretation of Article 177 (2) (b) of Guyana Constitution which deals with the utilization of votes to elect a president.
Several political parties that contested these elections have called for Lowenfield’s dismissal. Criminal charges have also been filed against him.
The officer’s previous reports submitted all show a victory for the incumbent regime, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC). The recount data shows a win for the opposition, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). That recount exercise was deemed credible by all the foreign and local observers, the diplomatic community, party agents and the high-level Caribbean Community (CARICOM) team that was deployed to Guyana to overlook the process.
