Dr M. Irfaan Ali, with his son and wife Arya Ali, greets a crowd of his supporters at a campaign rally on February 29, 2020, in Lusignan, Guyana. PHOTO: Luis Acosta/AFP

The presidential candidate of the Opposition PPP/C, Dr M. Irfaan Ali, therefore, will be declared the ninth President of Guyana, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) decided according to a press release on Tuesday afternoon, June 16, 2020.

However, even as the coalition government says the elections had a number of irregularities such as dead voters and migrants casting votes, the Chair of CECOM in her decision said the Commission does not have the powers of a Court of Law, nor the powers to annul an election.

In order to vet the credibility of the elections, the High court will have to examine and re-examine witnesses or to procure official documents to determine the truth of the allegations.

Justice Singh, at a meeting of the Commission, suggested that she will make a declaration based on the results of the National Vote Recount which showed the PPP gained 230,328 votes while the incumbent APNU+AFC amassed 217,259.

Guyana's elections were held on March 2, 2020, however, the declaration of the results were delayed due to irregularities in the first count of the votes, leading to a national recount as decided by the courts. 

Singh will be asking the Countries Chief Elections Officer to prepare a report according to the figures produced from the recount and once the CEO presents his report, the chair will have three days to make the official declaration.

More information to come.