By Nelson A. King
Despite the controversy
swirling around the recount of
the ballots in the March 2 General
and Regional Elections in
Guyana, Guyana’s Prime Minister
Moses Nagamootoo has
expressed confidence that the
incumbent APNU+AFC Coalition
Government of President
David Granger will eventually
emerge victorious.
The Guyana Elections Commission
(GECOM) was expected
on Saturday to complete the
process of recounting the ballots,
with the results of the elections
to be announced within
three days, Nagamootoo told
the Caribbean Life in an exclusive
interview on Friday.
“We’re very confidence of victory
on the basis of the campaign,
and what I’ve seen and
the work that we’ve done,” he
said. “The material evidence
is there that the Coalition,
absence of the fraud, has won
the elections in Guyana.
“When all is said and done,
the APNU+AFC Coalition will
win,” Nagamootoo added.
“Already the PPP (main opposition
Caribbean L 16 ife, June 19-25, 2020
People’s Progressive Party)
has started a set of violence to
distract that the Coalition has
won.
“We’re confident that, minus
the fraud, that the Coalition
has a handsome victory in the
elections,” he stressed, stating
that the PPP’s tactic of claiming
victory, even before the recount
is completed, is “to create confusion.”
“A new game has emerged
and formed for regime change
in Guyana,” the prime minister
continued. “We find that
they’re (PPP) making prejudicial
statements around the world.
They’re injecting fake news in
the media. The (recount) process
in not completed.”
Nagamootoo said after
the winner of the election is
announced and a new government
is formed “an international
commission should be established
to see how the elections
were influenced by outsiders.”
He described as “malicious” a
statement made by St. Vincent
and the Grenadines Prime Minister,
Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves on
the elections, stating that it was
made to “prejudice the recount
process.”
“For the prime minister of St.
Vincent and the Grenadines to
suggest how the recount should
be treated is very disappointing
to me,” Nagamootoo said.
“It gives me a personal hurt
for Ralph (Gonsalves) to make
a statement about the election
process, particularly with him
becoming the incoming chair
of CARICOM (Caribbean Community),”
he added.
In an interview Friday night
on the “Straight Up Live” radio
talk program in Guyana, Granger
characterized as “premature”
and “reckless” statements made
by regional leaders and others
on the elections in Guyana, stating
that all should wait on the
announcement of the results
from the Guyana Elections
Commission (GECOM) before
making prejudicial remarks.
Speaking on Wednesday
Guyana Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo addresses rally
in Brooklyn in January for re-election of the incumbent party
in Guyana. Photo by Nelson A. King
on a program on the Stateowned
NBC Radio St Vincent
and the Grenadines, Gonsalves
said: “We expect the CARICOM
observer mission to deliver its
report, and we expect that the
recount would be honored and
the Guyana Elections Commission
would declare the winner,
in accordance with this
recount”.
“Anybody who wants to challenge
anything afterwards can
go to court, but you have to
declare the winner in accordance
with the recount”, the Vincentian
leader said.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines
stands firmly for democracy
and reflecting the will of
the people. That will tell you
where we are. I don’t have to
say anything straight and plain.
CARICOM is not going to tolerate
anybody stealing an election,”
he added, stating that he
is aware that a number of opposition
parties, when they lose
an election, make a number of
complaints.
Guyana PM expresses
confidence of election victory
AndrewSorrentinofuneralservice.com
/AndrewSorrentinofuneralservice.com