GUYANA | Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman wants veil lifted from 2020 National Elections

GEORGETOWN, December 28, 2021 - Guyana’s 2020 National and Regional election is not yet a settled matter and the country’s Deputy Speaker and Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, Lenox Shuman is of the opinion that the country cannot move forward until everyone knows the facts surrounding what took place in the elections and efforts are made to fix it.

In responding to the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal in relation to the election petition case, Shuman is reported in the Village Voice as saying: “I have noted the ruling of the Court of Appeal and the dissenting ruling of one of our Learned Jurists and express my gratitude to the Judges. It is a matter of national importance that such a case is heard to uncover all the details and discrepancies that occurred in the Elections of 2020 so that we may find ways to correct them,” Shuman said.

He observed that  Electoral Law Reform without a true understanding of the events that occurred in 2020 poses an injustice to the entire reform process. “Electoral reform is already in a process that starts from the midsection instead of starting with constitutional reform as the initiating process that addresses the issues at the root. I continue to have confidence in the Justice system in Guyana with our apex court as the CCJ and ask that all citizens respect the ruling of our learned Judges in such a sensitive matter. At this juncture, the veil over elections 2020 is the only thing that needs to be defrocked.”

The Court of Appeal, in a majority decision earlier this week ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear an appeal challenging the High Court’s decision to nullify Election Petition 99 over non-compliance of service. 

The election petition was filed by APNU+AFC supporters Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse who asked the Court to nullify the outcome of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, and declare that President Irfaan Ali is illegally occupying office.

The petition was never heard as Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire  dismissed it completely, because former President Granger, one of the respondents, was served late. 

An appeal was filed against the Chief Justice’s ruling and by a majority decision  the Court found that it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, the lead attorney representing the appellants, said “The court of appeal in a historic decision found that it has jurisdiction to entertain an appeal when an election petition has been dismissed on procedural grounds. In so doing the court dismissed the Motion filed by Douglas Mendes SC on behalf of Bharat Jagdeo and by Mohabir Nandalall SC on behalf of the Government of Guyana,” Forde explained, shortly after the conclusion of the case.

Douglas Mendes, who represented the leader of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Bharrat Jagdeo – argued that the appellate court had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal. He submitted that the appeal is not covered under Article 163 (3) of the Constitution, and as a consequence, the Court has no jurisdiction. 

But Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes agreed with the arguments advanced by Forde that Article 163 of the Constitution confers jurisdiction on the Court of Appeal to entertain an appeal when an election petition has been dismissed on procedural grounds.

However, shortly after the ruling Minister of Local Government, Nigel Dharamlall accused Justices: Cummings-Edwards and Gregory of being biased and publicly called for them to be defrocked. His statement has been roundly condemned by political parties as well as the Guyana Bar Council.

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This story is written with reporting from the Village Voice in Georgetown, Guyana.