Ketch Congrulates Granger,Nagamootoo

WITH 570,787 Guyanese registered to cast their ballots tomorrow, May 11, Presidential Candidate of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, Brigadier (re’d) David Granger on Friday revealed his expectation of a 58-62% victory, which would not only oust the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), but will also secure a majority in the National Assembly. This disclosure was made at the coalition’s weekly press conference held on Friday at their campaign headquarters, Crown Street, Queenstown.
According to Granger, an expected additional 7-10% of votes at this year’s election, coupled with the 51% the then combined opposition (APNU and AFC) would have received in 2011, would pave the way to secure not just a victory at the polls, but a majority in the National Assembly.
But one hurdle which the APNU+AFC must leap is that of the uncommitted voter population. To this end, Granger related that from studies which the coalition would have seen, it has been discovered that there is a large uncommitted voter population.

the Carter Centre has already raised concerns about the acceptance of the results. Director of the Carter Center’s Democracy Program, David Carroll, has also expressed the view that, “This election is likely to be very competitive…depending on the quality of the electoral process, there might be reluctance to accept the results. It will be an important test for Guyana and its people.”

Against this backdrop, criticisms have followed Granger’s announcement of a 58-62% win at the polls, which, some are contending, was “irresponsible” on his part and can result in reluctance by supporters, to acceptance the results, should it not favour the coalition.
But Rupert Roopnaraine, leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a faction of the APNU, also explained that, “We have said to the observers that barring flagrant violations of the electoral laws and best practices on elections day, we can see no reason at this present time why we would find any difficulty in accepting the results.”
On the flip side however, he added that there is such a “surge of hope” among the people that if they detect that there are deliberate attempts to frustrate the will of the electorate, then he fears that “the people are going to be very difficult to restrain.”

Former U.S President Jimmy Carter left Guyana early on Sunday morning, after complaining of feeling unwell.

A senior U.S Embassy official confirmed Carter’s departure over a “medical condition”.

Mr. Carter arrived in Guyana on Friday morning to lead The Carter Center’s observer mission for Monday’s regional and general elections. News Source understands that on Saturday, he was forced to cancel a number of his engagements after falling ill.

Early on Saturday morning, he met with President Donald Ramotar and a government team at the Office of the President. By Saturday afternoon, the 90-year-old Carter was taken to a private hospital for a medical check up.

Mr. Carter also met with the Chairman and other members of the Guyana Elections Commission on Saturday.

He returned to his room at the Pegasus hotel on Saturday afternoon but his team decided to fly him out of Guyana on his private jet early Sunday morning for better medical checks abroad.
A source at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport confirmed his departure and said he appeared in good spirits as he walked to his jet.
The Carter Centre will move ahead with its elections observation mission and already members of the Center have been dispatched all across Guyana in preparations for Monday’s elections.
This was Carter’s third visit to Guyana since 1992. His Carter Center group has monitored a number of elections in Guyana and across the world. He was expected to host a press conference on Sunday afternoon with local journalists. Up to news time, there was no official cancellation of that press conference.