The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Tuesday evening granted an injunction blocking the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from issuing a declaration of the elections results until it hands down final orders relating to the application filed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
Jagdeo on Tuesday asked the CCJ to reverse the decision of Guyana’s Court of Appeal on Monday.
Attorneys Anil Nandlall and Devindra Kissoon, led by Douglas Mendez S.C., who represent Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali and Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, filed an application for leave to appeal to the CCJ within mere hours after the issuance of the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
The Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield has already submitted a new report to the Commission in which he dumped over 115,000 votes and gave the incumbent APNU+AFC majority of the votes to form a new government even though the certified and valid votes from the recount showed the Opposition PPP winning the elections by 15, 416 votes.
The order by the CCJ will now prevent the Commission from acting on Lowenfield’s report.
The CCJ hereby ordered that:
- Pursuant to Part 8.2(a) of the Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction) Rules, 2019 the timelines for filing documents in compliance with the said Rules are abridged.
- All Respondents acknowledge service of the said Application by 4:00 pm on Wednesday 24th June 2020.
- A Case Management Conference be held on Thursday 25th June 2020 at 3:00 pm via video conference pursuant to Part 8.2(f) of the Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction), Rules 2019 with a view to a proposed hearing, to determine issues raised in the Application, on the 1 st day of July 2020 at 10:00 am via video conference.
- The Guyana Elections Commission and its officers and agents take no step to prejudice the fair hearing of this Application including but not limited to issuing a declaration of the results of the elections held on 2nd March 2020, until this Court issues final orders following the hearing and determination of the questions raised before this Honourable Court in the said Application.
The CCJ will finally determine the matters in controversy as it relates to the meaning of votes cast as per the Constitution.
As per the orders, the CCJ will hear the case on July 1 at 10:00h via video conference.
