Granger says not considering declaring a State of Emergency

President David Granger Thursday put to rest claims that he was considering declaring a State of Emergency which would allow him to continue to serve as Head of State in the face of calls from the international community for him to step aside and accept defeat at the March 02, 2020 elections.

“I have not contemplated at this point in time the necessity for an emergency,” the President told the media at the sidelines of the opening of the new COVID-19 Hospital.

It was President Granger who had hinted back in June during an interview at State House that a state of emergency would have to be declared to allow for the reconvening of a Parliament and the approval of funds for government spending if GECOM scraps the elections.

“It is possible…I know it has been done before. It is not an option that I would embark on without receiving agreement of all the parties concerned. I don’t think it should be undertaken lightly or arbitrarily,” he said back in June.

Granger continues to serve as head of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government five months after Guyanese went to the polls and with a CARICOM-scrutinized recount process which shows the main opposition People’s Progressive Party winning the elections by over 15,000 votes.

The President said there is nothing about the current political impasse that would necessitate him declaring a state of emergency.

“I don’t see how the necessity for any emergency arises,” Granger said when asked about the coalition’s rejection of the recount figures and the use of those figures to make a declaration.

Despite agents of his coalition going to the court to block the declaration of the elections, Granger once again said he will abide by any declaration made by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission but noted that he cannot concede defeat since no declaration has been made.

The President joined his party colleagues in insisting on the use of several doctored reports by the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield who has invalidated hundreds of thousands of votes to hand the coalition a parliamentary majority victory.

“I have insisted on credibility but I don’t see what that has to do with a state of emergency,” Granger said.

The coalition has called for GECOM to nullify the March 02, 2020, elections and return to the polls without declaring a winner.

GECOM’s Chairman, former Judge Claudette Singh along with several Court rulings have made it clear that the elections cannot be nullified before a declaration is made and only after an election’s petition is filed.

The President now says he will abide by the ruling of the Court although several Courts have sanctioned for the declaration of the elections using the recount figures.

Those rulings along with instructions by the Chair of GECOM for the recount figures to be used are still being challenged by agents within the Granger coalition.