The A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) will appeal Elections petition #99/2020 and will pursue #88/2020 will ‘unrelenting vigour’, says Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon.
His announcement follows closely on the heels of #99 being dismissed by the Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George. It was found that there was non-adherence by the petitioners to satisfy prerequisites that relate to serving necessary documentation to respondents within the stipulated time. Former President, David Granger was served beyond the parameters of what was stipulated.
Harmon told the media today that the APNU+AFC does not agree with the decision, and therefore, action will be taken to have it appealed.
“I wish to assure all our supporters, and in fact, all Guyanese and persons who have a deep interest in this matter, that we will pursue our elections petitions – both of them – in particular, number 88. We will pursue that with unrelenting vigour, and we shall appeal the decision of the Chief Justice with regards to petition number 99, which she ruled was not permissible. We do not agree with her ruling here, and so, as the law provides, we will appeal that decision,” he said via a livestreamed press conference this afternoon.
Harmon maintained that both petitions are “sound and credible in law”, and “must be heard by the court”.
He added that while they address separate issues, they will establish that “fraud was prevalent in the March 2020 elections, and that the subsequent actions that were embarked upon by the [Guyana] Elections Commission (GECOM) were unconstitutional and unlawful”.
Harmon said that the party expects a hearing of petition #88 in the Court in “early April”, and noted that in the interim, the parties will be providing submissions to the court every two weeks leading up to that date.
Petition 88/20, seeks to raise inter alia, questions relating to the validity of Order 60 of 2020, referred to as the Recount Operationalisation Order.
That order that was brought into effect by the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Retired) Claudette Singh, following consultations with the then President, David Granger; Leader of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Bharrat Jagdeo; and former Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairperson, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. The order gave life to the National Recount process after controversy erupted over the Region Four Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo’s declaration. All the parties mentioned agreed to the process to end the political standoff.
Petition 88 also seeks to raise questions regarding the validity of Section 22 of the Elections Laws Amendment Act, which was used to bring Order 60 into effect. Further, the petition seeks to verify the legitimacy of Elections Report, which the petitioners contend is required by the Representation of the People Act to be based on the information provided by the 10 Returning Officers and not from the recount process that was birthed by Order 60.
Petition 99 of 2020 (99/20) is based on allegations of several irregularities in the conduct of the elections including: “Widespread voter impersonation; widespread noncompliance with documentation; the flawed voters’ list to begin with; and several other irregularities”.
