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Lowenfield ꟷ Center for Democracy P
Fraudulent invalidation of votes US must apply sanctions against Lowenfield - Center for Democracy
The International Center for Democracy (ICD) on Wednesday called on the United States Government to apply sanctions against Guyana’s Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, for his repeated and fraudulent attempts to undermine the results of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections in Guyana.
“Enough is enough,” said ICD Chairman Fazal Yussuff, adding that Lowenfield has continued to brazenly thwart the will of the Guyanese people by refusing to provide, as re
City Councillor Bishram Kuppen
Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine should focus on the “numerous problems plaguing the City Council, instead of venturing out on the propaganda trail”, says City Councillor Bishram Kuppen.
Mayor Narine recently issued a statement calling for caretaker president David Granger to be swornin on the basis of fraudulent results.
However, Councillor Kuppen pointed out that Mayor Narine should not be “postulating on legal matters, for which he is immensely unqualified”. He further stated that Mayor Narine “lacks the intellectual capacity to lecture anyone on complex legal matters.”
“To use the Office of the Mayor to call for the illegal swearing-in of a failed candidate, David Granger, who has lost the elections by [more than] 15,416 votes, is bordering on lunacy or pure ignorance, or a combination of both, and places the Mayor in that select group of corrupt individuals trying to thwart the will of the Guyanese electorate,” Kuppen said in a letter to the editor.
According to Kuppen, Narine had already identified himself as “a low-level PNC player in the rigging APNU/AFC coalition, whose sole aim is to steal the elections.”
Mayor Narine, in a statement yesterday, claimed that APNU/AFC won the elections based on Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield’s fraudulent report of June 23, 2020.
But Kuppen said the Mayor should have informed himself of the verified and certified valid votes cast during the recount exercise, which CEO Lowenfield had already submitted to GECOM Chairperson Justice (retd), Claudette Singh.
“This was reported widely in the media, but apparently the Mayor missed this, perhaps due to his preoccupation with APNU/ AFC propaganda matters,” the Councillor highlighted.
Kuppen said the Mayor must be reminded that all of the local and international observers, all contesting political parties (except APNU/AFC), the diplomatic community, the Caricom recount team, a number of current and past Prime Ministers of the Caribbean, many international organisations, Granger’s own sonin-law, Justice for All Party (coalition member) and numerous others have all agreed that the PPP/C won the elections based on the actual election results and the subsequent recount of all valid votes cast.
Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield
quired by Guyanese law, an accurate account of the results of the election recount.
Yussuff added that the ICD therefore calls on the “United States Government and other friends of Guyana’s democracy to hold (Lowenfield) accountable by imposing sanctions on him for undermining the democratic process by disenfranchising more than 115,000 voters.”
In 2018, the US sanctioned the President of Nicaragua’s Supreme Electoral Council, Roberto Rivas Reyes, for “perpetu
General Secretary of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday lambasted Granger over comments he made recently which suggested that the GECOM is “bound to accept” the concocted figures presented by the Chief Elections Officer for final declaration.
Foreign powers have called on GECOM to declare the results of the elections on the basis of the certified figures emanating from the National Recount.
The National Recount, which was conducted under the scrutiny of a special Caribbean Community (Caricom) team, shows the PPP/C in a landslide victory with some 15,416 more votes than its main political rival, the APNU/AFC coalition. ating electoral fraud that undermined Nicaragua’s electoral institutions.”
In Guyana, the March 2 General and Regional Elections have been plagued by ongoing controversy since the votecount was stopped midway through its process with the APNU/AFC trailing, and then, when restarted, attempted to show a Government win.
After subsequent legal battles, a recount completed on June 7, confirmed an opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) victory. However, as Chief Elections Officer, Lowenfield has continued to thwart an accurate declaration of the results.
In his most recent manoeuvre, Lowenfield submitted what he claims to be a report of the “valid and credible votes” to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), showing a victory for the APNU/AFC after invalidating almost 25% of the votes cast without showing evidence to support his spurious claim. That report has since been discredited.
“The international community must send a strong

Mayor should focus on problems plaguing City Council – Councillor

“To use the Office of the Mayor to call for the illegal swearing-in of a failed candidate, David Granger, who has lost the elections by [more than] 15,416 votes, is bordering on lunacy or pure ignorance, or a combination of both, and places the Mayor in that select group of corrupt individuals trying to thwart the will of the Guyanese electorate ” – Councillor Bhisham Kuppen
Mayor Ubraj Narine

and unmistakable message

to the powers-that-be in Guyana that there is zero tolerance for anti-democratic actions on the part of public officials,” Yussuff said, pointing out that the survival of Guyana’s democratic institutions depends on it.
Only on Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has instructed the Department of State to ensure that those responsible for undermining democracy in Guyana are held accountable for their actions.
The ICD is a New Yorkbased private, non-profit organisation supported by Guyanese-Americans.