GECOM Chair Claudette Singh today instructed CEO Keith Lowenfield to submit the results of the recount of the March 2nd elections by 2 pm tomorrow and she stated that the existing declarations for the 10 districts will be set aside, according to commissioners who attended the Commission’s meeting.
Importantly, Singh’s decision will show she is sticking to the recount which shows a win for the PPP/C and not Lowenfield’s most recent report which fraudulently sets a win for APNU+AFC. With her announcement that the 10 declarations will be set aside there is no prospect now of anything but a declaration in favour of the PPP/C.
Singh had previously resisted calls by the opposition-nominated commissioners and the PPP/C for the setting aside of the 10 declarations which contained fraudulent numbers for District Four. She had previously said that the declarations were in “abeyance”.
Singh today cited the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice when she gave the instruction to the CEO. Lowenfield has thrice before refused to deliver the recount result. It is unclear what will be different about today’s decision.
This majority decision came after hours of deliberations.
All six commissioners were in attendance at the meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission today which was intended to make crucial decisions on the fate of the recalcitrant Chief Election Officer (CEO) and the way forward in relation to the certification of the results of the March 2nd general elections.
Sources tell Stabroek News that a motion was informally placed before the meeting for Lowenfield’s dismissal.
The meeting got underway just after 10 am and continued until just after midday. It continued briefly at 2.30 pm. On Saturday, the three government-appointed commissioners were absent and so the scheduled meeting could not proceed.
Lowenfield’s defiance of explicit instructions by the GECOM Chair to present the results of the recount have seen mounting calls for his summary dismissal and a temporary appointment for the completion of the process.
Lowenfield’s report was the subject of much of the discussions this morning.
