Despite failing to win control of municipalities and areas long considered opposition strongholds, the ruling PPP/C, via its Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo said today that his party has managed to make significant inroads by securing more non-traditional support in those areas. The Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton staunchly disagreed with this. According to him, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic was only able to garner support in opposition-controlled areas by illegally utilising state resources.

Norton, during a press conference today, said Jagdeo’s talk of making inroads is a reaction to the people’s rejection of the “PPP/C attempt at domination and control”.

“He (Jagdeo) resorted to talking about making inroads. I do not believe you make inroads by buying votes. You make inroads when you have a genuine political movement that goes on the ground, does political work and people buy into it. This is a clear case of mass-scale bribery and we don’t see it as making inroads. We see it as the misuse of state resources, we see it as a violation of law, and we see it as contempt for the democratic process,” Norton said.

The Opposition Leader then went on a condemnation spree, spurning Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials and law enforcement personnel, some of whom he said were blatantly attempting to “collude” with PPP/C representatives.

“We’d also like to condemn the collaboration of some GECOM staffers and some members of the Guyana Police Force in favour of the People’s Progressive Party. We believe that during an election, these people are supposed to be objective. But sadly, on a number of occasions, they attempted to collude against the APNU,” he alleged.

Nevertheless, Norton said that his party retaining control of those areas is a “clear indication that the people have rejected a one-party rule”. He said this despite his party being trounced by the PPP/C, which has won (preliminary results) 66 of the 80 Local Authority Areas and seven of the 10 towns.

“The people of Guyana have rejected the PPP’s domination and control. We see it as not only a victory for the APNU but a victory for the people. Despite the ‘optics of many flags and red jerseys all around’, our people worked hard and we got the victory we deserve,” the leader said.

Norton said that going forward his party will continue to fight for a clear voters’ list and the implementation of biometrics at places of poll.

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