Calls for President Granger to ‘Step Aside’
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES - MIAMI HERALD
The Trump administration announced visa sanctions Wednesday on members of Guyana’s ruling government and called for President David Granger to “step aside” so the country could begin its transition four months after its disputed March 2 elections.
“The Granger government must respect the results of democratic elections and step aside,” U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said during a morning press briefing.
Pompeo said the U.S. would be placing “visa restrictions on individuals responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana.”
Granger and his A Partnership for National Unity coalition have refused to accept the findings of a 33-day recount performed by the Guyana Elections Commission and observed by the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, found the opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) had won the vote.
Instead, the ruling government has called for the vote to be annulled, arguing there were irregularities and anomalies in the election. Guyana’s chief elections officer, Keith Lowenfield, made the same argument, and ruled out more than 100,000 votes in a June 23 report that he said were tainted by fraud and were invalid.
The matter went to court, and last week the Caribbean Court of Justice, the final court of appeal for Guyana, invalidated Lowenfield’s June 23 election report. Under its decision, the 33-day recount would stand, making the PPP/C the new governing party.
The case heads back to court on Friday after a new challenge was filed, and the chief justice is expected to rule Sunday.
The ongoing election dispute is already having ramifications on the country’s economic fortunes, which were expected to see substantial growth this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic due to discovery of oil off Guyana’s Atlantic coast. The find is expected to transform the largely underdeveloped English-speaking nation from one of South America’s most polarized and poorest into possibly one of its richest.
A report issued Wednesday by Rystad Energy said political delays in getting approval for projects are removing millions of barrels of oil from production that could have been achieved by 2030. Such delays could reduce Guyana’s revenue substantially over the next few years.
“Our analysis shows that Guyana may lose around 10 million barrels of oil that could be produced from the project by 2030 presuming just a three-month delay, a number which climbs to around 75 million barrels assuming a 24-month delay,” analysts said in the report.
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AS THE ATTEMPT AT ILLEGAL DECLARATION OF RESULTS IS STILL ONGOING FROM 2ND MARCH 2020 - PLEASE CONTINUE SHARING AND ENSURING THAT WE ARE ALL AWARE OF THE LIES AND MISINFORMATION BEING DISSEMINATED IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IS TEMPERED WITH THE TRUTH.....
PLEASE ENSURRE THAT YOU CLICK
THE LINK IN YOUR EMAIL OTHERWISE YOUR SIGNATURE WILL NOT BE REGISTERED AS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS SO FAR!!
REMEMBER - IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE AS THE UK, CANADA AND EUROPE ARE POISED TO FOLLOW THE USA!
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PPP PRESS STATEMENT 15.7.2020
PRESS STATEMENT
“I note the Ministry of the Presidency’s response to my earlier Statement. The author of that response insults the collective intelligence of this nation by titling the Statement “President Granger abides by the Constitution”. The People of Guyana, nay the people of the world, are very much aware of President Granger’s unparalleled record of serial and gross violations of the Constitution. For example:
1. President Granger’s willful refusal to act upon the recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission;
2. President Granger’s willful refusal to constitute the Judicial Service Commission since August 2017;
3. President Granger’s instructions to Mr. Joe Harmon to direct the Police Service Commission, an independent constitutional body, to halt promotion of Police Officers;
4. President Granger’s directions to Ms. Simona Broomes to direct the Public Service Commission, an independent constitutional body, to halt the promotion of Public Servants;
5. President Granger’s unconstitutional revocation of dozens of rice farmers’ leases;
6. President Granger’s unilateral appointment of Justice James Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM, in violation of the Constitution;
7. President Granger’s willful refusal to resign, disband cabinet, and call an elections within three (3) months after the successful passage of a no-confidence motion, in December 2018, as mandated by the Constitution;
8. President Granger’s continuous refusal to accept the will of the electorate expressed by the ballots at the March 2nd 2020, Elections, as mandated by the Constitution;
9. President Granger’s continuous and repeated attempts, through his Commissioners and acolytes, to interfere with the operations of GECOM, an independent constitutional body;
10. President Granger’s willful refusal to engage the Leader of the Opposition to secure an agreement for the purposes of the appointment of a Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary, as is required by the Constitution.
The above list is by no means exhaustive. In almost every one of the examples cited above, a Court of law has pronounced on the unconstitutionality and illegality of the President’s actions or decisions.
I maintain most resolutely that there was a meeting at which the removal of the Chairman of GECOM, by the President, was discussed. Indeed, it is only after it was realized that the Chairperson cannot be lawfully removed that one of the President’s minions was dispatched to the High Court to seek Orders to restrain GECOM from discharging its constitutional duties of declaring the elections results, based upon the totals generated from the National Recount Exercise - another - colossal assault upon the Constitution and the democratic ethos embraced by the Constitution.
Rather than issuing a Statement of sanctimonious platitudes and rhetoric, President Granger can easily prove me wrong by directing his underlings to withdraw the legal proceedings filed today and to permit the Constitutional Electoral Process to run its course, paving the way for GECOM to declare the true results of the March 2nd 2020 Elections, reflective of the franchise of the electorate “
This statement is from Mohabir Anil Nandlall and represents the feeling of hundreds of thousands of Guyanese stuck around the world!!
Carry on standing up for your rights for the true results to be declared after over 18 weeks and the people will triumph will unity and make another attempt at running Guyana as a true democracy of six peoples!!