The head of an international observer mission to the United States elections, Michael Link, has accused the nation’s president and Republican nominee, Donald Trump, of a “gross abuse of office”.
Link made the accusation on Thursday amid allegations by the president that he was being cheated in the race for the presidency.
“The most disturbing thing was that with presidential fanfare of the White House, that is, with all the insignia of power, the American commander-in-chief called for an end to the count because of his purported victory,” the observer told the German daily Stuttgarter Zeitung.
“That was a gross abuse of office,” he said. He noted that Trump’s “claims of manipulation are baseless”.
According to AFP, Link, who works for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, warned that Trump’s repeated false allegations of fraud could have far-reaching consequences.
“The major concern is that the US will not be able put back into the bottle the genie that Trump has let out.
“Even if he were to admit defeat and hand over office properly, his supporters, incited by rhetoric, may see violence as a legitimate tool because they no longer feel democratically represented,” said Link.
And that is “a danger that goes far beyond election day,” added the mission chief of the OSCE, which monitors elections throughout Western nations and the former Soviet Union.
On Wednesday, the mission had released a statement saying that there was no basis to Trump’s claims of cheating.
Trump has been claiming victory although counting of votes in key battleground states are yet to be concluded.
He has threatened to take his case up to the Supreme Court, saying that the apex court will decide the election.
Trump’s path to the required 270 electoral votes has continued to narrow since Wednesday as his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is favoured to win the race.
However, Naija news Understands that Biden has started receiving a congratulatory message as president-elect.
It was gathered that the House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi on Friday described former Vice President Joe Biden as the US “president-elect”.
Speaking to reporters after Biden overtook President Donald Trump in the potentially decisive state of Pennsylvania, Pelosi said: “President-Elect Biden has a strong mandate to lead.”
source https://www.naijanews.com/2020/11/07/us-election-german-observers-accuses-trump-of-abuse-of-office/
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