Oral arguments in the appeal of the Chief Justice’s ruling on the Misenga Jones election case are set to take place from tomorrow morning before Appeal Justices Dawn Gregory, Rishi Persaud and Priya Beharry.
The Attorneys for the appellant are holding firm to their position that the Chief Justice erred in her ruling by deciding that the Recount Order was valid and votes from the recount should be used for the final declaration of the elections.
In written submissions, the Attorneys maintain that Order No 60 is invalid and is of no effect. They contend that their client’s challenge to Section 22 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Act is not one seeking declarations as to the validity of the elections but rather it is a challenge to the breach of the legal process or procedure for the conduct of the March 2, 2020 elections.
The position of the appellant is that GECOM breached the elections laws itself by bringing the recount order into force. The attorneys believe that GECOM further wants the Chief Election Officer to breach the law by directing him to use the votes from the recount to compile his final report.
The #2 respondent in the matter is the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, Retired Justice Claudette Singh. She is being represented by Attorney Kim Kyte-Thomas.
Kyte-Thomas has been arguing that the recount order is valid and therefore the Chief Justice’s ruling ought to be supported by the Court of Appeal.
She believes that the entire appeal should be dismissed.
Kyte-Thomas in her written submissions has indicated that many of the issues raised in the current appeal have been raised in two other election cases that were already addressed by the Courts. She is of the firm belief that the appeal lacks merit. She believes that any complaints or issues about the validity of the elections ought to be dealt with in an election petition after a declaration of the results.
The hearing is set to begin at 10 am on Saturday with a strict time schedule. The Court has said that by the end of the oral arguments, it will be in a position to indicate a date for its decision.
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