E+7 Guyana Elections 2020: Reason over passion - My Reflection on the Process Post E-Day 2020
By Selwyn A. Pieters B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario, Canada)
Attorney-at-Law (Republic of Guyana, Island of Trinidad)
Created March 08, 2020
Updated: March 12, 2020
Updated: March 12, 2020
The experience over the past week and a half (February 26, 2020 to March 06, 2020) as an observer accredited by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been instructive, memorable, difficult, time-consuming, all-consuming and meaningful until the process of verification was compromised by GECOM Officials working out of the Region 4 Command Centre on Hadfield Street and High Street in Georgetown, Guyana. I agree with the statement of the Guyana Bar Association having regard to the questionable process employed in Region 4 and the results that does an injustice to all of the voters be they APNU/AFC, PPP/C, ANUG, TCI, PRP, etc. <https://newsroom.gy/…/lawyers-warn-of-far-reaching-repercu…/>. See also <https://www.stabroeknews.com/…/us-uk-canada-eu-say-region-…/> and <http://demerarawaves.com/…/united-nations-calls-on-gecom-…/…>
Impartiality, Independence and transparency are important for public confidence in the administrative and decision making processes undertaken by the Guyana Elections Commission under the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03. The actual independence and the appearance of independence of GECOM is crucial for the public to have confidence in this Constitutionally Independent body
At the briefing for local observers on February 26, 2020 the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Major (retd) Keith Lowenfield, detailed the procedure that must be followed after close of poll and what obtains at the Office of the Returning Officer. He called the process "verification". This commenced on Monday evening after 8:00 p.m. as Statements of Polls were received in the Returning Officers' Offices in the various regions across Guyana. He confirmed much the same process in a March 04, 2020 briefing with the media <https://www.facebook.com/PrimeNewsGuyana/videos/495007611184543/>
Here, in circumstances, where a process for the verification was agreed upon and GECOM changed that process without regard to the law and convention, its independence is compromised and its ability to deliver credible election results in Guyana is compromised.
On March 04, 2020 a series of events occurred: The Deputy Returning Officer called in sick, the Returning Officer apparently fell ill and was taken out on a stretcher <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158336458305799/>, the process was delayed in Region 4 and verification that essentially started at 1:00 p.m. suspended shortly after 2:00 p.m. due to an absence of the Statements of Polls and the use of a spreadsheet. It resumed at 6:00 p.m. went on for an hour or thereabout because the staff complained on being tired. <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158326321680799/>
The shutout of the locally accredited media from the Media Centre on March 04, 2020 and the following days was not transparent and a violation of press freedom. <https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/…/media-not-allowed-wit…/>. Fortunately, cellular telephones provided the counting agents and observers with digital video recordings and the happenings inside of the Command Centre was recorded as necessary and made public.
The process to find a Deputy Returning Officer to continue the process was quite difficult and appeared orchestrated to frustrate the process <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158336462835799/>. A Deputy Returning Officer who was on site after 11:00 p.m. to recommence the process was sent home and escorted through a back entrance to escape the attention of the observers and political agents. Further, Mr. Lowenfield is on a recorded video questioning the integrity of another Deputy Returning Officer who he insinuated was affiliated with the PPP/C. <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158326869145799/>
The verification process commenced briefly on March 05, 2020 on or about 1:25 a.m. No APNU/AFC Counting Agents were present and attempts to reach them was futile as the calls went to voicemail. The process was suspended again because of a staff claiming to be tired yet found in a room working with the computer and flash-drive that contained crucial information <https://www.stabroeknews.com/…/police-called-in-at-region-…/>; <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158326062755799/>; <https://www.facebook.com/GuyaneseCritic/videos/814447849059132/>.
Numerous observers remained until 3:00 a.m., some remained throughout the night into the morning at GECOM Command Centre.
I left early in the morning to get some rest and returned at GECOM around 9:30 a.m.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings, arrived around 9:45 a.m. and requested a meeting with International Observers, who accompanied her to a meeting room that appeared open for her use. The use of a GECOM meeting room by Guyana's Foreign Affairs Minister (and APNU/AFC candidate) Dr Karen Cummings to attempt to intimidate International Observer groups was inappropriate and ill-advised. I took her to task there and then for her comments and actions that I found was an attempt to intimidate. The Rt. Hon. Mr. Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados, who is Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Mission, also took exception as did the High Commissioner to Great Britain. The actions that followed of the Deputy CEO of GECOM further exacerbated the situation. Who directed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings, to go to the GECOM Command Centre and relay a threat to take away accreditation of International Observers? Who within GECOM provided her with the meeting room?<https://www.facebook.com/100013855926345/videos/847447625727094/>; <https://www.facebook.com/PrimeNewsGuyana/videos/205285234009498/?t=171>; <https://www.stabroeknews.com/…/foreign-minister-said-she-w…/>; <https://www.facebook.com/gychronicle/videos/543007509681762/>
Following the departure of the Foreign Minister a bomb threat was apparently called into the building around 10:15 a.m. that caused an evacuation and more delays.
The Returning Officer on the afternoon of March 05, 2020 then made a declaration of the purported results of Region 4 on March 05, 2020 without the process of verification of SOPs being completed in the presence of counting agents of the political parties and Local and International Observers. The declaration lacked transparency. The only political figure whose signature is on the document is Volda Ann Lawrence APNU/AFC candidate and Chairwoman of the PNC. <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/posts/10158332092700799>
Tensions were high, the Chairwoman of the Guyana Election Commission, Justice Claudette Singh, was locked in a room and had not emerged for hours. Several persons at the Command Centre (including PPP/C activists and several local observers) stormed the Chairperson's office in an attempt to check on her welfare, emergency services technicians were called out and an ambulance attended the location. Guyana Police Force was guarding the door which was padlocked from the outside causing even more concerns.
The door which led into an office next to the chairwoman's office was also stormed, Tactical Services Unit Officers arrived, some of the persons in the unauthorized location were arrested by members of the Guyana Police Force, those persons were subsequently released on station bail and their cellular telephones were seized by the police to analyze for evidence of what took place in the building. Some people in the building including at least one Bar Association observer alleged they were beaten up by Guyana Police Tactical Services Unit members. <https://www.facebook.com/PrimeNewsGuyana/videos/2761564037284008/>
<https://www.facebook.com/lenox.shuman/videos/10163006753950291/>
<https://www.facebook.com/lenox.shuman/videos/10163006753950291/>
Two injunctions were obtained by PPP/C lawyers, signed off by High Court Jusde Navindra Singh. The Marshalls attended GECOM Command Centre but were unable to serve the injunctions that day on the relevant GECOM Respondents. Members of the Guyana Police Force were used to prevent service of the Court's injunction on the relevant GECOM Respondents.
Commander of the Guyana Police Force Region 4 Division Ewart Thomas was stripped of his command for refusing to follow an illegal order to remove international and locally accredited observers and counting agents from GECOM Command Centre. <https://bigsmithnewswatch.com/…/breaking-commander-removed…/>
On March 06, 2020, Guyana Police Tactical Services Unit members stormed the GECOM Command Centre and evicted all of the party representatives, counting agents, local and international observers. The building was locked down at that point. There was also a breakdown of law and order in all major regions in Guyana. Buses and other vehicles were burnt, police officers and civilians were assaulted, one man was killed in an encounter with Guyana Police Force officers who alleged that he chopped two of its members and children were injured when a school bus transporting them were attacked by PPP/C aligned supporters. <https://www.facebook.com/guyanapoliceforce/posts/2562708540675960>; <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158332559775799/>; <https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherJonesGuyana/videos/626311138158464/>
The recent civil unrest in Guyana has part of its genesis in a lack of transparency, lack of accountability, questions about the credibility of the process undertaken by GECOM Officials in the Georgetown-Mahaica District, Region 4. The failure to follow the dictates of section 84 of the Representation of the People Act, Cap 1:03, Laws of Guyana and the process undertaken in the other nine regions where the Statements of Polls were verified in the presence of counting agents of the political parties and International and Local Observers has called into question the credible basis for the results in Region 4 and compromises the results of the entire elections in Guyana. This led to an appearance of unfairness and compromise the independence of the GECOM. See, Hamilton v Guyana Elections Commission (2001)
40-M online <http://www.selwynpieters.com/documents/Hamilton_GECOM.pdf>
40-M online <http://www.selwynpieters.com/documents/Hamilton_GECOM.pdf>
Further, the unrest is fueled by a feeling of injustice on the part of the electorate from the PPP/C and a triumphant feeling on the part of the APNU/AFC supporters, one of which was disadvantaged and the other benefited by a process at GECOM described above. See also Carter Centre Statement <https://www.cartercenter.org/…/region-4-election-results.ht…>
In the case currently engaging the Court's attention, the claim that Mr. Neil Boston, S.C. was assisted in Court on Saturday March 07, 2020 by APNU/AFC candidates (and lawyers) Mr. Roysdale Forde, S.C. and Mr. Darren Wade, whether they appeared on the record or not, goes as well to GECOM's independence. Perception is extremely important. <https://www.facebook.com/Bharrat.J/videos/228520221604435/>
The Guyana Police Force was unprepared, not ready or unable and/or unwilling to properly perform its duties. That was evident on March 04, 2020 when the large crowd assembled at the GECOM building without any proper security protocols established for crowd-control <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158326047830799/>. As well, it was evident on E-Day where the building in Region 5 where the verification was conducted was left unguarded as the police officer left his post before the verification process was completed for that day. It was also clear and apparent where and when, as the videos indicated, police officers were not properly geared or equipped for civil disturbances, resulting in injuries to some of those officers. All police officers should have had various use of force options (protective vest, handcuffs, batons, pepper spray, tasers, sidearms and/or shotguns) as part of their kit for the elections. This was glaringly absent as I traveled through Guyana for the elections.
There can be no doubt that implicit racism, direct racism, systemic racism and institutionalized racism exist in our society and it is openly manifested in its raw, unvarnished and virulent nature during and immediately after the elections. The confrontation at GECOM is one manifestation <https://www.facebook.com/tracy.deen.7/videos/3104319006279006/>. The second was the confrontation between Glen Hanoman and the Police Officers. <https://www.facebook.com/mediaimran/videos/10156939341772011/>
The videos of race based, racially fuelled and racialized violence intersected to political affiliation that are online tells the story and those who are involved whether directly and/or the intellectual authors should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the criminal law. <https://www.facebook.com/franciane.limazoon/videos/1097130000621657/>; <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/posts/10158331840820799>; <https://www.facebook.com/DistinguishedRadical/videos/10158332718710799/>
The rule of law must prevail. This issues that arose at GECOM are before the Courts. Let the Courts decide whether GECOM's conduct amounted to a breached of the Constitution and/or the Representation of the People Act. Electoral violence will not help anyone. It will destroy the very fabric of society
******
Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario) Attorney-at-Law (Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago)
Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Osgoode), L.E.C. (U.W.I). Lawyer & Notary Public (Ontario) Attorney-at-Law (Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago)
* Brief Guyana Public Law Bio of Author
- My father was the first General Secretary of the People's National Congress. He also paid a high price fighting for the freedoms Guyana enjoy today: See, Abrams v The Members of the Governing Body of Anglican Schools (1960), 2 WIR 187 http://selwynpieters.com/documents/10_ABRAMS_2_WIR_187.pdf
- I was co-counsel (with Nigel Hughes) for the Alliance for Change and deceased families at the Linden Commission of Inquiry October 2012-February 2013.
- I was co-counsel (with Brian M. Clarke) for the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry May 2014 - July 2015.
- I subsequently became counsel for the People's National Congress when Basil Williams was appointed Attorney General and provided His Excellency D.A. Granger with legal advise and counsel on the Walter Rodney file.
- I represented the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Police Force and Guyana Fire Service (Joint Services) in the Commission of Inquiry into the Camp Street Prison Disturbances (March 02-04, 2016) and Subsequent Deaths (of 17 prisoners) March 2016- June 2016.
- In 2017, I represented an Investigative Journalist Travis Chase in the Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the persons, places, time, circumstances and events by and through which allegations and reports came to be made of an intention or a plan to assassinate the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
- In 2018, I was co-counsel for the Attorney General (with Kamal Ramkarran and Kim Kyte Thomas) in McEwan and Others v. Attorney General of Guyana at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
- In 2019, I provided an expert affidavit on Canadian Citizenship law in Compton Reid v. Speaker of the National Assembly.
- In 2020, I served as a Local Observer at the General and Regional Elections in Guyana
#Guyana #GECOM #guyanaelections2020 #GuyanaElections #2020Election
- My father was the first General Secretary of the People's National Congress. He also paid a high price fighting for the freedoms Guyana enjoy today: See, Abrams v The Members of the Governing Body of Anglican Schools (1960), 2 WIR 187 http://selwynpieters.com/documents/10_ABRAMS_2_WIR_187.pdf
- I was co-counsel (with Nigel Hughes) for the Alliance for Change and deceased families at the Linden Commission of Inquiry October 2012-February 2013.
- I was co-counsel (with Brian M. Clarke) for the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry May 2014 - July 2015.
- I subsequently became counsel for the People's National Congress when Basil Williams was appointed Attorney General and provided His Excellency D.A. Granger with legal advise and counsel on the Walter Rodney file.
- I represented the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Police Force and Guyana Fire Service (Joint Services) in the Commission of Inquiry into the Camp Street Prison Disturbances (March 02-04, 2016) and Subsequent Deaths (of 17 prisoners) March 2016- June 2016.
- In 2017, I represented an Investigative Journalist Travis Chase in the Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the persons, places, time, circumstances and events by and through which allegations and reports came to be made of an intention or a plan to assassinate the President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
- In 2018, I was co-counsel for the Attorney General (with Kamal Ramkarran and Kim Kyte Thomas) in McEwan and Others v. Attorney General of Guyana at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
- In 2019, I provided an expert affidavit on Canadian Citizenship law in Compton Reid v. Speaker of the National Assembly.
- In 2020, I served as a Local Observer at the General and Regional Elections in Guyana
#Guyana #GECOM #guyanaelections2020 #GuyanaElections #2020Election
