Bayan’s Renato Reyes: 2019 polls “neither free nor fair”

(Eagle News)–The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan slammed the results of the recent elections, saying the polls were “neither free nor fair.”

In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said for instance, the “entire state machinery was used against critics, opposition groups and progressives,” with the “attacks” on Neri Colmenares and the Makabayan partylist groups  “unprecedented.”

He said there was the “use of government resources to favor administration bets,” martial law in Mindanao, and the “control of the (Commission on Elections) and the hocus-pocus of the automated polls.”

“Most telling are the problems in the automated elections and the non-transparent counting of votes, including serious questions with the so-called transparency server. Maaga pa lang sinabi na natin na madumi ang halalang ito. Isa na sa pinakamadumi sa nagdaang mga taon,” Reyes said.

According to Reyes, the election results were the product not of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “magic” as claimed by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, but of “dark magic.”

“Colmenares is right in refusing to concede. He is instead sounding off the call to expose and fight the fraud-tainted results, the regime behind the manipulation and deception, and the entire corrupt system that oppresses our people,” Reyes said.

Colmenares is running for a seat in the Senate.

Based on unofficial and partial results from the Comelec, Colmenares ranked 24th as of Wednesday morning.