Opposition-nominated Commissioner, Sase Gunraj says that the incumbent President, David Granger, has no power to scrap the March General and Regional Elections.
The Commission made this comment during his response to Trade Unionist and Political Commentator, Lincoln Lewis, who purportedly called on Granger to cancel the elections if Order 60 (Recount Order) does not deliver on its mandate.
But Gunraj contends that Lewis is misleading on several grounds since Granger has no power to cancel this or any other elections.
In addition, lewis stated that Granger approved the recount and that Granger declared the intent thereof.
But Gunraj said that the recount exercise is not Granger’s recount but one that was commissioned, executed and concluded by GECOM, acting pursuant to decisions of GECOM.
“The genesis of the recount was to solve the quagmire which resulted from the illegalities committed by Mingo in his two declarations. In addition, the intent of the recount and the ambit thereof had to be and was in fact governed by law and as a consequence, the outcome and results of the recount are in keeping with the law,” he said.
The Commissioner added: “More importantly, the conduct and outcome of the recount has been judicially pronounced upon by the highest court, that is the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which has ruled in favor of the recount and has notably struck down the use of the fraudulent results by [the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith] Lowenfield.”
Gunraj said that Lewis is attempting to mislead and confuse the public by advocating positions that have no basis in law and by arrogating power unto Granger which he does not have.
He concluded: “…Only a court can cancel an election and its results in an elections petition and not other way.”
