Injunction grants Guyana’s election commission the freedom to declare a winner — but will it? · Global Voices
Guyana's neoclassical parliament building, located in the capital, Georgetown, was completed in 1834. Photo by <PERSON> on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
As the rest of the world wrestles with the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana is also wrestling with an electoral crisis.
Ever since the country's general elections on March 2, 2020, there has been an ongoing battle to determine which of the two leading parties is the victor: the governing A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), or the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP).
Following a legal challenge by the PPP and the High Court's ruling that the results from the key electoral district of Region 4 — the main point of contention — were null and void, President <PERSON> and Opposition Leader <PERSON> jointly met with a contingent of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders on March 11 and agreed to uphold the law and engage in a verification process for the Region 4 ballots.
This began on March 13, but came to an abrupt halt since the results continued to be read from a contentious spreadsheet, in contravention of the court ruling. That same day, international observer missions pulled out of Guyana, citing lack of transparency in the recount process.
Read more: Guyana general elections hang in the balance as regional vote count ruled ‘invalid’
On March 14, certain members of the APNU+AFC held a press conference — with President <PERSON> noticeably absent — during which the party's campaign manager <PERSON> said he was “satisfied with the decision which was made by the Returning Officer and countersigned by the agent as being the final declaration of the [original] count of the votes in Region 4.”
<PERSON> also accused the opposition of engaging in “delaying tactics.”
Not everyone in the party is as confident, however, most notably <PERSON>, a former government minister and the president's son-in-law, who was “not sufficiently convinced” that the Region 4 results “accurately reflect the results recorded on the various statements of poll collected from the 879 polling stations.” The election verification process in Guyana is still predominantly a manual one.
When asked at the press conference about <PERSON>'s statements, Minister of Natural Resources <PERSON> said, “I can say that the overwhelming majority of the AFC membership and leadership does not share [his] view.”
Guyanese columnist <PERSON> has since put forward the theory that there is a power struggle between two factions in the governing coalition, one siding with with President <PERSON> and the other with Minister <PERSON>. “What is actually taking place in Guyana right now,” <PERSON> wrote, “is a putsch.”
Recount agreement with CARICOM halted
Three days after the press conference, on March 17, <PERSON>, who ran as a candidate for the governing coalition in Guyana's 2018 local government elections, successfully filed an ex-parte injunction to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from acting on the recount agreement made with CARICOM. 327
At this point the recount had not yet begun. The ruling essentially means that GECOM has the green light to declare the election result in the government's favour.
<PERSON>'s name is also on the Region 4 candidate list for the regional elections, but the judgement did not state why this was not considered a conflict of interest.
A screenshot of the injunction order brought by <PERSON> on behalf of the government.
Though GECOM has not yet acted on the new ruling, it claims that no matter how well-intentioned, the agreement with CARICOM cannot override the law. Since the interim injunction was served ex-parte, meaning the other side was not present, arguments to the contrary are yet to be heard.
The judge will hear the arguments for both sides on March 20 at 9:00 a.m. local time.
Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM Chair <PERSON> withdrew her team, saying, “It is clear that there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason. Any government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy.”
Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir <PERSON> called it “utterly regrettable that […] the invited CARICOM team to oversee the recount of the votes has had to withdraw.”
The PPP, meanwhile, has filed contempt charges against GECOM officials. 39