CARICOM Chair, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley today called on all concerned to ensure a transparent recount process without further delay in order to provide legitimacy to any government which would be sworn in as a result of the March 2nd general elections.
Mottley’s statement coincided with the arrival of the CARICOM scrutineers in Guyana this afternoon.
Her reference to legitimacy of the government would be a fresh warning to those who have been accused of trying to rig the elections in favour of the incumbent APNU+AFC.
On the aborting of the first CARICOM mission to assist with the recount, Mottley had said that there appeared to be forces here against the recount of the votes. The first CARICOM mission was aborted after an APNU+AFC candidate went to court and secured an injunction against the recount. That injunction was later discharged.
Mottley’s statement follows:
Statement
by the Chair of the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
on CARICOM Observer Team for Guyana Elections Recount
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Observer Team for the recount of Guyana’s Regional and General Elections will arrive in Guyana on Friday, 1 May.
The three-member Team will be led by Ms. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and includes Mr. John Jarvis, Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission and Mr. Sylvester King, Deputy Supervisor of Elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Ms. Barrow-Giles was a member of the High-Level Team which came to Guyana last March to participate in a scheduled recount which had to be aborted. The other members of that Team are unavailable for the present mission. Both Mr. Jarvis and Mr. King participated in the CARICOM Electoral Observer Mission for the Elections held on 2 March 2020.
The Community thanks the Government of Canada for the generous support it has provided to CARICOM for this initiative.
The Community calls on all concerned to ensure a credible and transparent recount process in order to provide legitimacy to any government, which would be sworn in as a result. This process must be completed without further delay.
