The Alliance for Change (AFC) Wednesday morning welcomed a High Court ruling in which it dismissed a case brought by its political rival, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).
The Court, in a Tuesday afternoon ruling handed down by Justice Navindra Singh, ordered the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) not to strike off alleged fraudulent names from the AFC’s local government election list of names.
According to AFC’s member Michael Leonard, the dismissal of the case which targeted the Bloomfield /Whim local authority area is welcomed but not unexpected.
He said the PPP’s claims of fraud against its candidates and supporters are ironic, particularly since the PPP itself was forced to pull out of the Wakenaam area where fraud was discovered after fake and dead person’s names found its way onto the list.
“We need all parties to play by the rules… the local government system is working well but one party in the race is operating like a scared cat whose back is against the wall,” Leonard said.
According to the AFC’s Proportional Representation candidate in the upcoming LGE, the AFC intends to conduct a decent and respectful campaign and wants its supporters to remain focused.
Meanwhile, according to a statement released by the PPP, a Police Report submitted to Justice Navindra Singh in the High Court in Berbice totally misrepresented what the residents of the Whim/Bloomfield Local Authority Area claimed they told to the Police during interviews that were supposed to be used to compile that report.
The Judge had ordered a Police Report into allegations made by over 50 (fifty) persons that their names were procured by misrepresentation and trickery on lists supporting AFC candidates.
The PPP said those persons who were present in Court explained after the Court hearing that the Report did not accurately reflect what they said to Police Officers who interviewed them.
The opposition party said this was confirmed by officials of the PPP/C who were present when these interviews were conducted by the Police.
“Significantly the Police in the Report claimed that they were unable to locate Abraham Nagamootoo, Mavis Nagamootoo and other members of the Nagamootoo family and other AFC Candidates who were implicated in the statements given by the residents,” the party related.
To this end, the PPP believes undoubtedly that the Police investigation and the ensuing Report were perverted by and contaminated with political interference.
