Election Petition: Appeal Court ruling on recount set for Monday

Guyana’s Court of Appeal will Monday deliver its ruling on the appeal filed against Chief Justice Roxane George’s ruling throwing out Elections Petition 88 of 2020 that deals with the recount of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

This is according to Attorney General Anil Nandlall who spoke on Tuesday night during his “Issues in the News” programme.

Mr. Nandlall said the decision will be handed down at 14:00 hrs.

“This is the petition that challenges Order 60 of 2020 under which the Recount, the national recount, was done.

“Petition #88 was thrown out at the High Court level,” the Attorney General said.

Petitioners Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick had contended that Section 22 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act is unconstitutional and that Order No. 60 of 2020, which authorised the recount conducted, was invalid, null, void, and of no effect.

In her ruling, however, Justice George said that the March 02, 2020 election was conducted lawfully and there were no breaches, violations or non-compliance with the laws of Guyana by GECOM. Specifically, she said Order 60 of 2020 was lawfully created and used to resolve irregularities, discrepancies, and anomalies occurring in the elections process and to determine a final credible count.

This petition is supported by the APNU+AFC coalition accused of derailing the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

If the recount order is invalidated by the Appeal Court, the Attorney General said the case will be taken to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s apex court.

A second petition #99 of 2020 was also dismissed by the Chief Justice on procedural grounds and subsequently appealed. The Caribbean Court of Justice had ruled that Guyana’s Court of Appeal does not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal filed against the decision of the Chief Justice.