…GECOM officials in contempt as it defies injunction
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) on Thursday obtained an injunction from the High Court of Guyana to stop the declaration of unverified results in District Four (Demerara-Mahaica Region).
This move was taken after Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo attempted to declare the regional results from Monday’s poll without completing the verification of the Statements of Poll – a process that had been halted several times since Wednesday.
Representatives from the various political parties that contested Monday’s elections as well as both local and international observers had staked out at the GECOM Command Centre, which also housed the Office of the Region Four RO. A series of events on Wednesday and throughout the night had risen suspicions and tension among those persons who remained in the building to see that the verification process was completed.
But an attempt on Thursday morning by Mingo to declare the region’s results without completing the verification process caused an uproar in the building as the representatives from the various parties, with the exception of the APNU/AFC coalition, objecting to this.
This forced the PPP/C to immediately move to the courts.
The injunction was filed by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall on behalf of a private citizen, Reeaz Holladar, and named RO Mingo, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as respondents.
The application was heard and granted by High Court Judge, Justice Navindra Singh, who ordered that the declaration be halted until all the procedures outlined in the Laws of Guyana were followed.
“It is HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT an injunction be and is hereby granted restraining the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), either by itself, its servants and/or its agents, and each and every one of them, from in any manner whatsoever, declaring the total number of valid votes of electors for each List of Candidates recorded in the Guyana National and Regional Elections 2020, until and unless the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, Election District Number Four… and/or the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, complies with and ensure the compliance of the process set out by the provision, letter and spirit of Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Capt. 1:03, Laws of Guyana.”
After obtaining the injunction, Nandlall was accompanied by two Marshalls from the High Court to serve the order on the parties. They arrived at the GECOM Command Centre sometime after 16:00h.
However, they were unable to serve the court order since Mingo had already left the premises, while Lowenfield was not seen for most of the day. Persons claimed that he was in the building but no one could access him.
Meanwhile, the GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, was in the building reportedly being held “hostage” in a room with little to no access to her.
Instead, the Marshalls served the order to the Commissioners attached GECOM.
But this was done in vain as the declaration had already taken place. Parties’ representatives and even the international, as well as local observers who were in the Command Centre, had reported not witnessing this exercise.
Then, at about 17:30h, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of GECOM, Yolanda Ward, shared copies of the declaration, which indicated the number of votes each party would have gotten – figures which completely differed from those the PPP/C has insisted it obtained in Region Four.
