People line up to vote during presidential elections in Georgetown, Guyana, Monday, March. 2, 2020. Guyana get to choose for a new government in a bruising fight for control of a South American country whose oil revenues in the next decade could make it one of the wealthiest in the hemisphere. less
Photo: Adrian Narine, AP
Guyana ruling party rejects vote recount in election chaos
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A major dispute erupted Monday in Guyana and threatened to further destabilize the South American country after the governing party rejected a recount of votes cast during the March 2 general elections.
The ruling multiparty coalition that has been in power since 2015 accused the main opposition People’s Progressive Party of electoral fraud and said it would go to court to prevent the elections commission from declaring a winner. The announcement was made a day after the commission finished recounting about 400,000 votes, including disputed votes from about 30 boxes from coastal villages that the ruling coalition said contained only votes for the opposition that it wants invalidated.
The opposition party, which is leading by three parliamentary seats, has rejected the fraud allegations and said former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali should be sworn in while the court resolves any alleged irregularities. The People’s Progressive Party led Guyana for 23 years until 2015, when it lost to the ruling coalition led by President David Granger, who is seeking a second five-year term.