Bouterse concedes P

14 NEWS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Bouterse concedes defeat

– but Granger clings on to power even though defeated twice

President Desi Bouterse of Suriname has conceded defeat at the country’s General Elections for the sake of allowing his country to move forward, but it is the opposite for his counterpart in Guyana; caretaker President David Granger, who has tightened his grip on power even though the results of a National Recount have confirmed that his ruling party was massively defeated by over 15,000 votes.

The General Elections in Suriname were held on May 25, and the results were already declared and accepted by all parties.

Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) has since congratulated the opposition parties on their victory in the recent polls and commended their decision to move towards the formation of a coalition Government in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

The opposition parties – Progressive Reform Party, Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij, The National Party of Suriname, and the Pertjajah Luhur, and the Brotherhood and Unity in politics – together control 35 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, while Bouterse’s NDP won the remaining 16 seats.

“We wish you prosperity, wisdom, strength, and perseverance in the pursuit of the Surinamese goal, which is sacred to all of us, namely, to push Suriname to greater heights at any level,” the NDP said in a statement after the Independent Electoral Council of Suriname released the offi

President Desi Bouterse of Suriname

cial results of the poll over the weekend.

However, in Guyana’s case, President David Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition was defeated twice - first in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in December 2018 and then at the March 2 National Elections.

After prolonging the elections for more than a year following the no-confidence vote, the elections were finally held in March.

It is now close to four months since the electorate voted but the results are yet to be declared even though they are widely known and certified by all stakeholders, including the parties themselves and local and international observers.

The National Recount results, which constitute data generated from the 2339 Statements of Recount (SoRs), show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 General Elections with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. The APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizenship Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.

In fact, after their attempts to use Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to illegally inflate votes in their favour failed, Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition tried to every conceivable avenue to hang on to power illegally. lief hampers were on Saturday last distributed to residents of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The exercise was organised by the Victory Deliverance Ministry, specifically for the residents and others who were in need of food supplies, especially during the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the exercise, the leaders of the church encour

Caretaker President David Granger

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice Claudette Singh last Tuesday voted to use the results from the recently concluded recount and have the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) declared the winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

But moments before Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, was set to present his report to the Commission for final declaration, coalition supporter, Eslyn David, moved to the Court of Appeal to block the Commission from declaring the results. aged other religious bodies, community leaders, businesses and organisations to reach out to those in their community who are in need.

At the distribution activity, Pastor Joseph Persaud spoke of the importance of

The Court of Appeal on Monday determined that it has jurisdiction to interpret Article 177 (4) of the Constitution of Guyana which it claims, speaks to the election of a President when the interpretation of the Constitution is being invoked but the GECOM must determine “if more valid votes are cast” for a list.

The PPP/C has since appealed the decision at the Caribbean Court of Justice and is hoping that the matter would be addressed “speedily” so that the way could be paved for the legitimate Government to be

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Some 400 relief hampers distributed at Parfaite Harmonie

An estimated 400 re

Scenes from the hamper distribution exercise

sworn in.

lending assistance, especially during this time.

The Victory Deliverance Ministry is expected to host another hamper distribution exercise in the near future with the hope of reaching even more persons.

Ramsammy’s Ruminations Irfaan Ali is my president, who vex, vex, because the people say so

It is now more than 114 days since the people voted for President Irfaan Ali and we are still haggling at GECOM and in the courts about something that could not be clearer. Let me, therefore, be pellucid – Dr Irfaan Ali is my President. More than 233,000 people voted for Irfaan Ali to be President. David Granger was fired on March 2. We have been patient, but the time for us to do the right thing is now. David Granger is now a squatter in the Office of the President. His party –the PNC – made Guyana into a squatting country in the 70s and 80s, now Granger is taking squatting to another level.

He has been enabled by sycophants and, worse, he has been enabled by the Dr Leslie Ramsammy very institutions that are responsible for defending, respecting and promoting democracy. The Judiciary has not been friendly to democracy in Guyana the last five years. It has enabled those who want to see a return to dictatorship. Judges, the axle on which the wheels of justice turn, find facts, apply the law and exercise discretion.

As soon as APNU+AFC approached the Court of Appeal in Guyana last week to halt moves by GECOM to make the declaration of Dr Irfaan Ali as President, the majority of Guyanese became anxious, worried, frightened, simply because they had no confidence that the Judges of the Court of Appeal would be fair. The majority of Guyanese believe Justices on the Court of Appeal do not judge political cases on merit, but their judgment reflects their own political bias.

When Granger flouted the Constitution and arbitrarily appointed James Patterson as the GECOM Chair, he brazenly breached the Constitution. The Judges in the High Court and the Court of Appeal decided to ignore the clarity of the Constitution, adding words that were not present in the Constitution to conclude Granger had the power to make an arbitrary decision. Any examination of the relevant articles in the Constitution would confirm, even to a lay person, much less those trained in the law, that the Constitution obligates a shared process in the appointment of the GECOM Chair.

That was not the first time that the Judiciary exposed its bias when it comes to the political architecture in Guyana. It was also not the last time. When the no-confidence motion was passed by a majority 33 against 32 in Parliament, the Judges on the appeals circuit decided, indeed, that 33 cannot be more than 32. It was the most glaring example of their biased posture.

Thankfully, the CCJ threw those decisions out of the window and made clear to all that these articles in the Constitution speak clearly and do not need anyone, not judges or any other citizen, to add words so that they can interpret the meaning differently. Judges are not meant to exercise their duty as a witch's brewery to come up with what they want. The law is the law and must be applied as written.

This brings me to the latest travesty. We have had blatant acts of fraud when Mingo, not once, but twice, tried to replace the actual votes in Region 4 to reflect a lie – that APNU won by 59,000 votes, when in fact they won by about 36,000 votes, increasing their winning margin by 23,000 votes. The recount confirmed that Mingo stole these votes from the East Bank and East Coast Demerara. A High Court Judge was ruling in favour of using those fraudulent votes until a Judicial Review blocked him from doing so. Now we have the results of a total recount that Caricom, the "most trusted interlocutor", concluded reflected not only the Statements of Poll from March 2, but reflected the true will of the people.

GECOM, the body responsible for the election, after dillydallying, after much jiggery-pokery, concluded they must accept the results and declare the winner. A declaration meeting was scheduled, but aborted because APNU+AFC used a surrogate to approach the Court of Appeal with a backdoor election petition. Clearly, the matter was not one that the Court of Appeal should have entertained.

I listened to every word the three Judges spoke. To his credit, one judge stuck with the words in the Constitution and the meaning that was always applied. It was painful listening to the other two Judges – they contorted themselves so much they made a demented American pretzel look less twisted. They added words and claimed jurisdiction. If they want to make law, they ought to be politicians.

The bottom line is the people voted freely and fairly for Irfaan Ali to be President. There were more than 5000 GECOM staff and another more than 5000 representatives of political parties and more than 2000 observers who concluded that almost 470,000 Guyanese showed up on March 2 and cast more than 460,000 valid votes. No one disputed these facts before the attempted Mingo fraud failed. Now we have conjured up ghosts and phantoms in an effort to throw away the March 2 elections. The Judiciary in Guyana seems to want a role in legitimising the ghosts and phantoms myth. The people say, enough is enough, Irfaan Ali is President, who vex, vex.

2 more relief flights from US next week

– borders with Brazil, Suriname remain closed

The National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) has confirmed two more two repatriation flights scheduled for next week to bring home Guyanese stranded in the United States.

The first flight will be on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, from Miami to Guyana, departing at 08:30h.

The second flight will be the following day, on Thursday, July 2, 2020, from New York’s JFK to Guyana, also departing at 08:30h.

Both relief flights will be operated by Eastern Airlines.

According to the National Task Force in a statement on Tuesday, additional flights are being planned in consultations with various airlines and the details will be provided as these are confirmed.

It was noted that these additional flights will cater for Guyanese stranded in North America and the Caribbean.

The NCTF is reminding that all citizens will be responsible for their own airfare and other expenses and must complete PCR COVID-19 testing and test negative for consideration in addition to filling out and submitting the Repatriation Form.

Upon return to Guyana, all citizens are reminded that they must self-quarantine for a period of seven days.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Health will monitor all persons on self-quarantine.

“The NCTF has prioritised the repatriation of Guyanese nationals stranded in the various countries in the Western Hemisphere,” the missive detailed.

Moreover, the Task Force is urging Guyanese stranded overseas, if they have not yet done so, to contact their nearest diplomatic mission or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly. Contact details are listed on the Ministry’s website along with the Repatriation Form: www.minfor.gov. gy

The first repatriation flight from the US landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) earlier this month with a total of 109 persons.

Only last week, there were two more repatriation flights from the United States to bring Guyanese home.

In the meantime, there have also been similar relief flights from Trinidad and Barbados via Caribbean Airlines.

Guyana had closed its borders since March 19 amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, its porous borders have been a cause for concern, especially in those border regions.

As such, the NCTF noted in its missive on Tuesday that Guyana’s borders with Brazil and Suriname remain closed and no entry will be permitted to persons in these two countries until further notice.

The neighbouring Portuguesespeaking nation now has over one million confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 52,000 deaths – the second country globally to pass the 50,000 mark.

Mahaicony sea defence suffers another breach, villages flooded

Another section of the Mahaicony sea defence collapsed again on Monday, widening the breached structure and leaving residents in a state that is completely vulnerable to floodwaters.

A resident in the community, Riyaad Bacchus told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the new breach occurred between Dantzig to Content, Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) – the same area which experienced the last breakage.

This resulted in an overflow of water from the Atlantic flowing onto the lands, thus causing inundation along the villages of Strangroen to Prospect.

According to Bacchus, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) was informed of the breach but they are yet to visit the area. With high tides being experienced currently, the water rose in the morning and afternoon hours on Tuesday – reaching the homes of many worried residents.

Back in October, the sea defence had suffered a major rupture and saltwater from the ocean flooded fertile lands, killing livestock and damaging crops. Moreover, millions of dollars were tallied in losses.

In May, persons in the community had reported that the breach between

Canals dug since the last flooding incident which prevent the water from draining

Dantzig-Fairfield had been extended after another rupture occurred at Content. While the communities were experiencing a low tide, residents expressed worry about rainwater accumulating because of canals that were dug as a defence mechanism.

Bacchus had explained that a canal was later dug on private land to prevent the water from toppling over. However, this failed and they opted to excavate another one alongside the first.

“They build the first one on private land and it didn’t work so they come back and dig another one more inside. So they keep coming in more and more and nothing is being done…There is still no defence since the last one collapse. At first, it was from Dantzig to Fairfield but there was another breach at Content so the situation now keep getting bigger,” he noted.

While this canal setup was done to provide coverage from the pounding Atlantic waves, they said it caused rainwater to collect in the communities, with no course to drain. At that time, contractors could not access the dam to establish a proper structure due to the flooding.

Meanwhile, Neil Machado, who also resides close to Content, had in

formed this publication, “We will get flood. Last year when the other side got flood, they put a dam by the canal and that hold the water a little. The rain season will be a big concern now too cause after they dig this canal, there is no way this water will get to out to the Atlantic side so all the rainfall water will accumulate in the land. And then you get a threat from the ocean so it gonna be hectic.”

After the last inundation, many farmers would have sold their livestock while others were unable to rebound from their losses. The salty water has also affected the lands, inhibiting any future activities.