Following the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Wednesday, top officials of the United States and Canadian Governments have called on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to declare the winner of the March 2 polls based on the recount figures which show a victory for the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
“The Caribbean Court has ruled. It’s time for #GECOM to declare the winner of Guyana’s election based on the national vote recount. The will of Guyana’s voters cannot be ignored,” tweeted Michael G. Kozak, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the U.S. State Department.
Joining him was Michael Grant, Canada’s Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas who tweeted, “Important ruling today from the Caribbean Court of Justice on Guyana. It’s time for the election results to be announced by #GECOM based on the recount. No more delays.”
The CCJ on Wednesday ruled Guyana’s Court of Appeal did not have jurisdiction, or the power, to interpret Article 177 (2) of the Constitution and that the use of the June 22 report by Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield to come up with a report that shows the incumbent APNU+AFC winning the elections instead of the PPP was illegal and his report should be discarded.
Prior to the CCJ’s ruling on Wednesday, diplomats heading the powerful ABCE countries met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Karen Cummings, emphasising that the results of the national recount must be used to declare a winner of the March 2 elections.
The meeting was requested by High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana Lilian Chatterjee, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom Greg Quinn, Ambassador of the United States Sarah-Ann Lynch and Ambassador of the European Union (EU) Fernando Ponz Cantó.
The diplomats at the meeting warned that there will be consequences if the results are not declared using tabulations from the national vote recount.
Following the CCJ’s ruling, the Chairman of GECOM Justice (rt’d) Claudette Singh called a meeting of the six politically divided Commissioners and the Chief Elections Officer which is set for 13:00h Thursday.
