The AFC has welcomed the new findings by a local observer group that the party beat the PPP/C in Region 10 to win a geographical constituency seat.
"These findings, quite apart from vindicating an already established position, now add further credibility to the AFC's claims for redress and justice," the party said in a statement issued yesterday. "The [Electoral Assistance Bureau]… is to be commended for pursuing these issues vigorously and fearlessly."
On Tuesday the Bureau said an audit of Statements of Poll for Region 10 showed that the AFC received 3,314 votes to the PPP/C's 3,282, figures that differ from the Guyana Elections Commission's official results which were used to award a geographical constituency seat to the governing party. The Bureau added that the findings suggest that all parties except for the NDF and the TUF gained more votes than the figures that were officially declared in the general and regional polls. An analysis done by former elections commissioner Haslyn Parris suggests that the JFAP won a seat at the elections.
The AFC urged the Bureau to continue its probe into all aspects of the conduct of the 2006 polls so as to ensure that no other political party has been short-changed in similar fashion. It added that the PPP/C can, however, perform the "honourable act of conceding the obvious," in order to allow the commission to take the necessary steps to remedy the injustice.