Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), has urged fellow retired army top brass, caretaker President David Granger to heed the advice from his son-in-law and concede defeat.
Dominic Gaskin, a former minister of the APNU/AFC Government and the son-in-law of Granger, has contended that there is no “reasonable basis” on which the coalition can claim they have won the 2020 elections.
Gaskin further criticised his father-in-law’s political party for continuing to mislead their supporters, noting that “No one elected us to remain in office forever… Level with your supporters and start directing your energies towards becoming a credible opposition party in time for 2025.”
The APNU/AFC Coalition has been clinging on to power and has been refusing to accept that it was defeated by over 15,000 votes at the March 2 elections.
Phillips, whose party won the elections, told Granger: “the time has come for the leadership of the APNU/AFC and when I say the leadership, I’m talking about David Arthur Granger. The time has come for him to go public, notwithstanding they will wait on GECOM to make a declaration which is more ceremonial than anything else.”
“Because the knowledge is out there, in the public domain. The PPP/C won the elections. They have the number of votes they won it by. We went through a recount. All the reports are in. It’s time for Mr Granger to lead in the interest of peace and stability in this country,” Phillips asserted.
“It’s time for him [Granger] to go to the mic. Go to the mic and tell the people of Guyana: ‘my party, my coalition APNU/AFC, lost these elections. And I’m conceding defeat’. That will bring peace to Guyana… His own son-in-law told him what I’m repeating right now. So, if he doesn’t want to listen to me, listen to your son-in-law,” Phillips reasoned.
Phillips also urged that Granger consider his legacy. Phillips’ advise comes following former Barbadian diplomat to the United States (US) and the Organisation of American States (OAS), John Beale, declaring that Granger is known as the “sanctimonious gangster” in Caribbean circles.
“Let us have a proper legacy for him. Because in another five years, another 100 years, when the political history of Guyana is written, we want it to be correctly stated that Mr Granger, notwithstanding the fact he held out for over 100 days, has finally conceded he lost the elections,” Phillips said.
